For newcomers: The A to Z Challenge is where a bunch of people blog throughout the month of April, choosing a certain theme and then posting with a corresponding letter for each day.
Growing up, “picky eater” was the perfect way to describe my culinary tastes. My parents were big into us kids having a well-rounded palate (for which I’m incredibly thankful) and we generally weren’t allowed up from the table until we’d eaten all the food on our plate. This led to me sitting at our table for long periods of time simply because I wasn’t inclined (to put it mildly) to put food I didn’t like into my mouth.
Somewhere in the passages of time, I kinda got over the pickiness and over the years might have overcompensated a bit. Worms, fossilized dinosaur teeth, Guinea pig (while in Peru), bark from a Redwood tree, crickets, and many other marginalized edibles have been consumed by me in the last decade.
Some of these foods have been weird, but if we want to talk about the most disgusting tasting food I’ve ever eaten? Well, we need look no longer. Today’s letter is….
I would say durian looks harmless enough, but in reality, it’s a heavy, spiky ball of fruit fully capable of killing someone – no joke.
It grows in Indonesia and is apparently delicious to some people and somewhat addictive. Back in 2014, I went to visit friends in Indonesia for a month and all throughout my visit heard about durian – half of the family I was with thought it was a heaven-sent treat and the other half detested it. I couldn’t wait to try it for myself and form my own opinions.
The smell alone is enough to bring quivers to my stomach – it smells like a mixture of rotting onions and roadkill and the scent is so strong that no one can sneak anywhere with the fruit. (And in some places it’s literally against the law to bring it with you.)
It tastes much like it smells, and the texture is somewhat on par with cream cheese. So, just imagine cream cheese that tastes like putrid onions and smells twice as strong, and you’ve got a good idea of what durian is really like.
I’m quite thankful for getting to taste durian and find it amazing that what one person craves another person can detest. Trying new foods from other countries is so much fun, no matter if you actually like it or not.
What I Listened To While Blogging:
The soundtrack for “The Prince of Egypt” (yes, yes, again. i might be slightly addicted)
Where I Blogged:
In my office
Fun Fact:
Indonesia has the most delicious fruit I’ve ever tasted
Question of the Day:
What’s the worst-tasting thing you’ve ever eaten?
Noveltea 
Ooh, the infamous durian fruit! I haven’t had the chance to try it, yet, but I’m fascinated by anything that inspires such polarized opinions.
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Haha, I’m kinda fascinated by it, too. I hope you get to try it some day!
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Durian sounds like so much fun to try! I’ve tried plenty of interesting foods (most of them in Ghana, West Africa). Some of the ones I enjoyed, or at least didn’t detest, were rabbit, cat, cow hide and cow stomach. Unfortunately, the worst food I had was kenky. It’s a fermented dough boiled in corn husks that smells like silage and has the texture of play dough. It’s normally eaten with an extremely hot pepper sauce or a small amount of beans. I didn’t feel quite so bad for not liking it when I found out that not even all the natives like it. 😏
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I’ve had kenky before! (While in Ghana.) I didn’t have to eat it very often, so I don’t have bad memories of it, but it was quite a weird flavor. I think cat would have been much worse. 😉 I’ve had cow intestines in Peru and they weren’t very yummy. 😉
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This reminds me we used to bring home something new and different from Jungle Jim’s everytime we visited. Sometimes we liked it, sometimes it was chalked up to a learning experience
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Oh, fun! I wish we had a store like Jungle Jim’s closer to us. I’ve never been to one, but they sound like a pretty great store from what I’ve heard.
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Next time you visit the Museum with Buddy and Kay you need to talk them into taking you. Wait, you can drive now. Next time you drive to the Museum you should stop and visit Jungle Jim’s. I suggest the West Chester location. I think it is bigger and more interesting
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Haha! That’s a great idea. 🙂 But, with juggling two jobs in addition to writing, I’m not sure when I’ll be able to make it to the Creation Museum next….
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Ohh durian!!! It’s sooo delicious! I just had some again the other day😁I think you just need to come try it again and i can teach you how to like it😉😁
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Haha! I’ll come and visit you again any day! 😉
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I’ve heard so much about the smell of durian and here you’ve kindly described the texture. What does it taste like though? Is it sweet or savoury?
hahahah- you had me laughing at the fact that it is illegal ,in some places, to carry it around.
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I don’t remember the taste entirely because the smell overpowers it a lot, but kinda what I would imagine roadkill to taste like? And also rotten onions. As to comparing it to something that I’ve actually tasted before? Well, there is no comparison. 😉
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