durian

Durian is more than a fruit you eat raw off the husk. Ripe, it is soft and rich enough to drop straight into desserts. Left under-ripe, it firms into a

The honest answer depends on which durian you are holding. A whole, firm fruit that has not ripened wants the counter, not the fridge. A durian you have

Durian and the freezer found each other out of necessity. A ripe fruit lasts only a few days before it slumps and ferments, the smell fills a room, and

Most durian buyers never meet D2. Malaysia registered it in 1934 as one of its very first clones, under the name Dato Nina, and the export machine built

The hardest part of durian is not growing the tree, it is knowing the hour to take the fruit. Cut it early and the flesh is pale and starchy;

Durian paste is ripe durian flesh worked smooth and put up for storage, and it lands in one of two camps that behave nothing alike in the kitchen.

Two countries grow the same species, Durio zibethinus, and end up with two products that share almost nothing on the plate. Thai growers cut the durian

Walk through a tropical market and three big, spiky fruits can sit in the same bin, so alike on the outside that shoppers mix them up daily.

A durian with four names across three languages usually has a story behind it, and D160 has a good one. Most Americans meet it under its glossiest label

D88 confuses more durian buyers than almost any clone I get asked about. Part of that is its split reputation, and part is that it often turns up under