Durian Gourmet Food Festival in Phuket, Thailand

If you've taken a look at the Durian Recipes page of this blog, you might have noticed that while there are tons of durian desserts, the entree section is a little lacking. It's not just because I've been bouncing around so much I haven't had the time to organize and put up recipes (true). The world of durian cuisine is just a little lacking.in savory durian dishes, something I may never understand. After all, durian is one of the few fruits out there regularly compared with caremalized onions sauteed in sherry and gently roasted garlic. It seems to me like durian would compliment lots of familiar dishes, like casseroles or anything with cheese.

That's why I'm so pleased to announce that the durian-crazed chefs at DiVine Restaurant in Phuket, Thailand, will be offering a multi-course gourmet durian buffet for one week starting TOMORROW (May 25). Scroll down to see the full menu and some beautiful food shots sent to me by the creative chefs, changing the world of fruit cuisine one durian samosa at a time.

Kampot, Cambodia's Durian Capitol

Nestled along the Kampong Bay River at the foot of the Elephant Mountains, Kampot is a quiet, peaceful place that is quickly gaining a reputation as Cambodia's number one tourist chill out. Most Western tourists probably have no idea that Kampot is also practically synonymous with durian. That might explain the prominent setting of Kampot's durian statue, the roundabout in the center of town. Just like our lives, centered around durian.

Kep: A Durian Beachside Retreat

In the year that Rob and I spent combing Asia for durian, we visited the beach maybe five times. Durian typically prefers the slightly elevated interior regions, and so we spent over two months in Thailand avoiding those gorgeous stretches of white sand I always see in travel magazines.  Rob actually does hate sand. But I would happily be a beach babe, and in Kep I finally got my days of sun, sea air and durian. In Kep, they even sell durian on the beach! How sweet is that?

Durian Island: Koh Kong Cambodia

One of the things I like about durian hunting is that it has a tendency to lead me off the beaten track, even in heavily tourist-ed areas. There are no beaten tracks in Koh Kong. Koh Kong is the southwestern-most province in Cambodia, and is still largely unpopulated. Most of the interior is accessible only by boat and the mountains are home to Asian elephants, wild ox, leopards, and tigers.  With such untapped wilderness tourism agencies have been making a stab at the eco-tourism industry, but there are still few organized tour packages available. You're on your own, and what you do is up to you. I chose durian.

A Very Durian Border Crossing: Hat Lek/Koh Kong

It's pretty well established that crossing overland into Cambodia is asking to get ripped off. Whether it's bogus visa sellers, fake quarantine tents, artificially elevated transport prices or corrupt officials, somebody's getting more cash than they should. I remembered that Rob and I had a little trouble last year when we took the Ban Pakard/Prum crossing, but I thought that was because we idiotically didn't have the correct change. This time I was ready.

The Inedible Durians

Of the 27 species of durian, only a handful are generally considered good enough to eat. The main qualifier for the "edible" category seems to be a relatively high flesh-to-seed ratio. The rest aren't poisonous, but their palatability is in the tongue of the beholder.