-It's larger than your head.
-If it falls on you, it will certainly kill you.
-Its spiny shell is so hard that you need work gloves to pick it up or handle it.
-It is banned from most hotels.
-Keeping one in your home will create a nauseating smell so strong that you will consider moving.
-It comes from trees that are about 20 metres tall and are polenated by bats.
-rumour is that consuming it with beer will result in death.
Give up?
It's Durio Zibethinus of the Bombacaceae family.
In real English:
It's Durian, the King of Fruit!
In spite of its foul odour, durian really is the king of fruit. Well guarded inside of its thorny case, the durian hides five chambers which are filled with a creamy fruit that defies description. This creamy, buttery delight is like sweet heaven melting in your mouth.
A good sized durian is four or five kilograms and is ready to eat when it falls from the tree. Just make sure that your not standing under it!
Durians are an excellent source of energy, and are filled with vitamins C, B and Beta-carotene. The creamy flesh is more filling than most fruits, as it is not a watery fruit.
The best way to eat a durian is to scoop the pulp out of the shell and enjoy as is. Its rich flavour really doesn't need anything to enhance it. But if you feel like something more elaborate, here is the next best way to eat it: put it on top of some salted, glutinous rice and then drench it all in coconut juice. Divine!
Smell causes alarm
Sydney- The pungent smell of durian fruit prompted a full-scale security scare at Brisbane airport and delayed a flight for four hours yesterday. Passengers were bundled off an early morning Virgin Blue flight to Adelaide when cargo handlers raised the alarm about a strong odour in the hold. Virgin Blue chief executive Brett Godfrey denied the airline had overreacted or displayed cultural insensitivity. He compared the smell of the legendary Southeast Asian delicacy to a toilet after use.-dpa
