life with Lillian DURIAN PARTY A MALAYSIAN TRADITION If there is one genuinely Malaysian tradition
enjoyed by the different races of the country it has to be the durian party - when ten to twenty people - usually relatives and close
friends get together to wallow in maybe two baskets full of specially developed durians… from getting the D24s to the more recent favorites the Gua Musang aka as Rajah
Kunyit… the ones with yellow fleshy fruits that are divinely sweet but leave a slight bitter after taste. There’s a whole lot more with
different textures, softness, color and a range of sweet tastes.
much to the annoyance of many of us durian connoisseurs. We hear that they have now found a way of extracting, packing and sending durian fl esh to China - and of course, locally this means prices keep going up…
I T ankfully, many of my friends
either own or have friends who own durian farms. About twenty years ago, it became very trendy to own small durian farms where one could grow a variety of new strains of durians. Since it takes a good decade for trees to mature and produce fruit, it is only in recent years that many have been able to taste the fruits of their durian hobby. Remember that it is only around the fi fth or sixth annual harvest before the durians produced are really good… I have to say I have a real talent
52 FENGSHUIWORLD | SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2011
have to confess that I am a very keen and ardent durian fan, this gourmet fruit which the Chinese from Mainland China have just discovered,
smelling out the best durians each time the fruit comes into season. Just two weeks ago, a dear pal of mine organized a durian party and it was at that party, in the midst of us all groaning in ecstasy, oohing and aahing in satisfaction that I decided to write this piece. Needless to say, all the great
new varieties were served and as the durian man opened the durians from two large baskets my host, well-known lawyer about town and now restaurateur (yes, she is the one instrumental in forging one of the more successful strategic alliances with locally famous cooks and restaurant experts to bring us the famous Noble House chain of restaurants - Ming Room, Han Room et al). Yes I am talking about the one and only Chan Mo Lin. That night she invited a few close friends to dinner and taught us how to select durians… smaller ones are best, especially those with twisted shapes. And of course their “fragrance” has to waft through the skin.
T e durian fragrance is unlike
any other in the world and for the uninitiated nostril, it might be “off ensive”, but there is a certain seductive allure of the durian smell for fans of this gourmet fruit which comes into season only twice a year. T e best way to eat durians is to be really casual - wearing shorts, T shirts and slippers… because you will tend to sweat a great deal. Durians are not for those with high cholesterol of those watching their weight unless, like me, you simply stay off rich foods the following day. Better yet, just fast for a day! And then you can dig in and eat to your heart’s content without feeling guilty! To ensure you do not smell like a durian, you need to wash your hands with water that has been passed through a durian skin, and to safeguard against sore throat and other “heaty” aggravations do drink a mouthful of water also from the durian skin. Use the side that housed a durian fruit before…
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