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Sorry for the non-technical post, but this one comes from the heart.
I'm a big fan of Andrew Zimmern's show "Bizarre Foods", as well as Tony Bourdain's "No Reservations". Both shows (featured on the Travel Channel) involve travelling to exotic countries and eating, as you might guess, somewhat bizarre foods.
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On both shows they've travelled to Asia, where they ate the "durian" fruit. Zimmern hated it with a burning passion, though he made a go at it twice. Bourdain loves the stuff, though he admits that "Its taste can only be described as...indescribable, something you
will either love or despise. ...Your breath will smell as if you'd been
French-kissing your dead grandmother."
Jonathan, my stepson, is half Chinese, and his Dad's family loves the
stuff. I was intrigued, so Jonathan brought some home last night.
How can I describe it? He brought the pulp home in a sealed tupperware
container. When he opened it up, the bottom floor was immediately
filled with the stench of rotten onions. It was horrid -- within
seconds my stepdaughter was yelling from 4 rooms down. Jonathan then
presented me with a spoon. Egad.
I took a small bit -- 1/3rd of a teaspoon, perhaps. I popped it into my
mouth and somehow forced myself to swallow. As expected, it was
horrible. Terrible. It tasted like rotten onions crossed with gasoline
crossed with death, all topped with 2 gallons of high-fructose corn
syrup. I managed to keep it down, and was then blessed with 2 hours of
durian burps that were worse than the flavor itself.
So, in short -- if someone ever offers you a taste of this exotic fruit, kick them firmly in the lap and run away.
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