A CONTROVERSIAL FRUIT.

Rangitikei Advocate and Manawatu Argus, Volume XXXIII, Issue 9126, 22 April 1908, Page 7

A CONTROVERSIAL FRUIT.

Melbourne people have recently had an opportunity of tasting a Malayan fruit which has divided opinion sharply in the land where it grows. ‘‘To eat the durian,” wrote Alfred Russell Wallace 50 years ago, “is a new sensation, worth a voyage to the East to experience.” An earlier traveller declared it to be of such excellent taste that it surpassed all the fruits of the world in flavour. But to a third it seemed to smell like rotten onions. Malayans, it seems, are divided into pro-durians and anti-durians. The former “give it honourable titles, exalt it, make verses to it” ; the latter refer to it in unprintable language. What is this strange fruit like? It was included in a sample shipment from Java to Melbourne the other day, and the Argus has an interesting article on its appearance and taste. It is as large as a big cocoa-nut, and the thick rind is studded with sharp spikes. The inside is divided into five cells of satiny whiteness, filled with cream coloured pulp. The writer in the Argus tasted the fruit and declares that Wallace did not exaggerate in his eulogy of it. The great scientist declared the consistence and flavour of the pulp to be indescribable. “A rich, butter-like custard, highly flavoured with almonds, gives the best general idea of it, but intermingled come wafts of flavour that recall to mind cream cheese, onion sauce, brown sherry, and other incongruities. It is neither acid, nor sweet, nor juicy, yet one feels the want of none of these qualities, for it is perfect as it is. . . The [more you eat of it, the less you feel inclined to stop.” The Melbourne eulogist says the first suggestion of the cream of the seeds was “a commingling of vanilla ice andfsublimated eschalot, ” then, as the "delicacy emulsified, “came a hint of the bouquet of a fine, mellow, and gracious port.” But hostesses are warned not to place the whole durian on the table. The loosing of a Gorgonzola “would not be more potent in clearing a room.