Durian "Mornthong"

One of the best parts of living in Queens and going to my favorite Asian supermarket, "The Great Wall," is that the place has the qualities of an exotic food museum. Things I never see in a typical supermarket I will see there. One of the things I hope to do more of investigate these various food items and hopefully incorporate them into a recipe, at least once. One of the more curious items I found in the produce section was a fruit/vegetable (I was uncertain at the time.) that was large, with a rough, spiky skin. It was labeled "Durian Mornthong." In my down time I was inclined to learn more of this item and what I learned was quite interesting indeed.

A rather extensive internet search turned up a few things, but only a few recipe ideas. Apparently, the fruit is called the "King of Fruits" in Southeast Asia. It is also banned from hotels in Singapore because of it's powerful scent. Apparently, it is this scent that makes the fruit an Asian secret. It is widely assumed, probably more accurately than not, that non-Asians will not appreciate the smell. When I try recipes for this fruit, it will be when my wife and family are away, on the balcony, and I'll probably try this one from Recipezaar (A pretty mainstream site, so feel free to spice things up!): http://www.recipezaar.com/Durian-Cake-108709, or this one: http://www.recipezaar.com/Durian-ice-cream-49111. This article enlightens regarding the Durian: http://www.thaifoodandtravel.com/features/durian.html. I found another site of interest, "The Red Cook," which mentions durian puffs among Dim Sum items--the new link is to the right.