Wednesday, 6 May 2015

A Siamese durian called The Crocodile's Egg



Found this durian in a pile beside the trunk road , sold by a trio of very weather beaten but very healthy looking old men. The flesh is like being assailed by Jackfruit shrapnel, then brushed by a tangy seductively swathe of fibrous artichoke,  dipped in a creamy corn treacle.



Below was the exchange between us.

Muah : Pakcik, durian ni dari mana eh ? ( Where are these durians from ? )

First old man : Er .... ( he's sizing me up )

The one furthest from me : Dari Siam ( it's from Thailand )

Muah with a crestfallen face : La....ingatkan dari kampung loh . Durian Siam yer ? Yang kampung punya takde ker ? 
( Aww, I thought you were selling local durians . Don't you have any local ones ? 

All 3 of them retorted loudly : Skang, Malaysia mana ade durian ??? Hahaha !!! 
( Currently it's impossible to find any local ones ) 

Great they're having a good time laughing at this ignorant city baffoon . I'm embarassed but nevertheless I wanna find out once and for all when the season is slated to begin. 

Muah : Oooo gitu. Jadi bila musim tu bermula eh ? 
( So , when is the season expected to begin ? )

They look at each other and reply in unison : Jun lah !
(June )          

Muah : ( all quiet just for 3 seconds ) I move closer to the shortest guy, look him straight in the eye and ask him directly 

Muah : Mmm....apa pulak nama durian ni ?
( what's this species called then ? )

He's blushing and squirming : Teloq Buaya

Muah : HAAAHHH ????

He repeats it more softly but steadies his gaze at me : Teloq Buaya

Muah : Ooooohhh 
( no, I'm absolutely confused, batting my eyelids furiously trying to make sense of this piece of info. Did he mean the species or where it originated from ? Gonna google this later)

End up getting some for the road plus a packet of jackfruits before spending some time looking for Teluk Buaya . Those places were far placed between Indonesia and the East Coast. Why the heck did he say they were from Thailand ?
That's when the smarty pants suggested that I google Telur Buaya instead, which means Crocodile Eggs and bingo ! Yes indeed there is such a species but I'm not gonna worry myself over it anymore as I lap up some more since they are absolutely not keen on it. 

Me, I kind of like this and I'm thinking that it'll taste damn good in ice cream form . Besides, feasting on Crocodile Eggs sounds weirdly yummy and almost dangerous.



  Where to find this : Ask around please, I'm just narrating and translating not a durian expert. 



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