Durian

Whether you’ve eaten it or not, you’d probably recognize durian. It’s that spiky fruit from Southeast Asia — specifically native to the islands of Sumatra and Borneo, which are part of Indonesia, Malaysia, and Brunei — that’s famous for being rather… pungent. Maybe “pungent” is too diplomatic of a word for a fruit others would just call plain stinky.

Sometimes called “The King of Fruit” for its taste and huge size, a durian is about the size of a football and its stench is strong enough to where it’s banned from much of public transit in Southeast Asia. If you can get over the smell of durian, you’ll be rewarded with something delightful; fresh durian has a custard-like texture and a unique taste — in a good way — that people have tried their best to describe for centuries. It’s both creamy and sweet but without being overpoweringly so, and somehow has a little bit of savory in there as well that complements those flavors. There’s also many different varieties of durian that all have slightly different tastes.

Besides being eaten plain, durian’s also used to flavor many candies and desserts, ice creams, and more. You can find fresh durian in our produce section and durian-flavored sweets in our desserts and candy aisles.