Durian: Davao’s Version of Heavenly – Goodness
Considered as “King of all Fruits”, with the protruding elegance of its lofty thorns, though intimidating, gives awesomeness to its form. Its flesh, so vibrant it makes you want to touch it, has an inner delight that blasts your palate with its boastful flavor. Truly Davao, durian has a story which leaves you no choice but to explore its inner pleasures.
It is important to know how to choose the right durian. It may be overly bitter and pungent if overripe. If it is not ripe enough, the flesh would be hard and probably tasteless. To make sure that durian is in its optimum ripeness, the sense of smell can be used. First, put the durian about an inch from your nose. Smell, it should just be neither too raw nor too strong like men’s perfume. It should just be exact. Once done in selecting the perfect durian, it’s time to open it up. Turn it upside-down, and look for its base. You will see pale brownish outlines similar to that of a five pointed star. They are the lines that separate its different fragments. Follow these lines and it will just break the fruit open.
When driving along the streets of Davao and noticing a smell of an extremely sweet-pungent odor, it would be definitely a durian. Some people would say it smells like gasoline or stinky socks, and makes you want to run away from it. Or a rotting onion inside a bag, and when unsealed, its pungent odor bursts out even leaving some traces of its odor in your clothes. But there is more to durian than famous smell. Durian lovers really find it having a bitter-sweet scent similar to that of butane and a mash-up of overly ripe mangoes, inviting people to come along, dragging them to where that scent comes from.
Craved by most of Davaoenos, durian has a finger-licking goodness that lingers in your palate for a period of time. It has a subtle sweetness and has an even sweeter aftertaste. The flavor bursts into your mouth having a custard-like, mushy, nutty, strong, bitter-sweet taste of overly ripe grapes or rich beer, and hangs on inside your mouth for a long time that even tooth brushing is not enough to sweep its taste away. Once full with durian, be prepared to have a burp that still has this bitter-sweet aftertaste.
A distinct flavor, intriguing, and most of all, indulgent; durian is truly a version of Davao’s heavenly goodness – a sweet surprise.
