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A Thai scientist has managed to strip the durian, a Southeast Asian delicacy, known as the king of fruit, of its signature funky aroma. What's next, fatless bacon?Songpol Somsri, who grew up on a durian orchard, crossed more than 90 types of the spiky fruit to create Chantaburi No. 1, which is said to smell as mild as a banana. As anyone who's read Tony Bourdain's A Cook's Tour can tell you, a durian's natural aroma is nothing at all like a banana. So noxious is the fruit's aroma that it's banned from Singapore's subways. Bourdain characterizes it thusly: "like you'd buried somebody holding a big wheel of Stilton in his arms, then dug him up a few weeks later." That aside Bourdain likes them. He really, really likes them.
I can understand his attraction somewhat. Several years my fellow blogger and intrepid eater, Jonathan, sampled one with some friends. Sure, the flesh is custardy, creamy, smooth and sweet. But it has a a definite funky undertone, kinda like garlic steeped in jet fuel, that stays with you for several hours. That aside, I say leave the durian as nature made it, in all its stinky splendor.
