I just remembered a doozy. This last year was a landmark birthday for my Mum. My Mum has a very adventurous spirit that extends to food. One of my sisters and I were shopping for party food at our local uber-market. We saw some really strange looking, found, spikey looking fruits called Durian (if you've tried these, you know what's coming). They looked like a large version of the business end of a mace (and I DO mean the medieval weapon.) We were intrigued and knew Mum would be too. She LOVES odd fruits. (For my 5th birthday party, she served a platter with ugli fruits, kiwis, star fruits, kumquats, persimmons, pomegranates, and more- quite exotic back then!!!) We carefully picked up the ominous looking fruit and took it to the checkout with our other goodies (ingredients for hummus, chicken barbecue, etc...) and laid out the $9.00 the behemoth fruit cost. At home, I miraculously found a gift bag that was both large enough and sturdy enough to hold this Durian. Jess (my sister) held onto the bag while we sat outside giving Mum her presents. I glanced over at Jess and she was wrinkling her nose in a most unpleasant way. She walked past me and said- "You hold this for a minute"... and walked away. It was my turn to give Mum her present, so I passed it over. Mum squealed with delight when she saw the bizarre fare and sent me to the kitchen for a butcher knife and a cutting board (again, if you have tried these, you know what's coming.) To fast forward- we ended up hacking into the thing with a hatchet. Boy howdy- the STINK that came from that thing. Feeling full of the birthday adventure spirit, I suggested that maybe it was like limburgher cheese and smelled horrid but tasted great. Jess, her husband and my husband all backed away. Mum, my baby sister (10 years old- Yes- I'm 20 years older than my youngest sister) and I lined up to try some of the stuff. Baby sis licked it and promptly started gagging. Mum and I simultaneously swallowed the stuff and then ran to brush our teeth. It tasted the way a sheep smells. Upon researching this thing later, we discovered that it is sometimes referred to as "dead flesh fruit"... there are also legions of devotees to this awful thing. Doubt me? Durian website Argh- If I think about it too much, I can actually still taste that rancid stuff in my mouth. Airlia (baby sis), Mum and I all attest to the fact that we burped the flavor for at least a week. Traumatic food incident, to be sure!. Beccy
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