給榴蓮的情書

When my friend Bob Halliday thinks about 1）durians， the tropical fruit that some say smells like garbage， he not only 2）salivates with delighted anticipation， but he also “foams like a 3）geyser.” Those were the words he used on the eve of our visit to an orchard north of Bangkok that was filled with these green spiky fruits dangling dangerously from towering trees.

I confess to the same passion with what must be the world’s smelliest fruit.

What is it about the durian？ Shaped like a rugby ball with large thorns that can pierce even the most callused hands， durian stinks so badly that it’s banned from airplanes， hotels and mass transit in most Southeast Asian cities.

Yet 4）aficionados like Bob and I will travel terrible distances， cancel important appointments—do anything—to scarf down globs of 5）custardy flesh from a durian. While many Thais like their durians harvested early so the interior is still hard and can be neatly handled， I like an over-ripened durian， which has the 6）consistency of cottage cheese. It’s a very messy affair.

It goes without saying that durian is a 7）polarizing and controversial fruit. There is a long tradition of durian haters who cannot get past the smell and gooey-ness of durian， especially among Western visitors to Southeast Asia. Simon de La Loubère， a French diplomat who came here in the 17th century and wrote with unusual empathy about the Kingdom of 8）Siam， drew the line at durian， describing it as “unbearable”because of its smell.

But as a foreign correspondent for nearly two decades， who has always sought to write fairly and dispassionately， I 9）dispense with objectivity for a moment and attempt an ode to what the Malaysians rightly call the king of fruits.

Yes， I freely admit that when ripe it can smell like a dead animal. Yes， the fruit is difficult to handle， bearing likeness to a 10）medieval weapon. But get down to the pale yellow， creamy flesh， and you’ll experience overtones of hazelnut， apricot， 11）caramelized banana and egg custard. That’s my attempt at describing durian. But words fail；there is no other fruit like it. Bob compares it to the works of Olivier Messiaen， the 20th-century French composer： complex， 12）dissonant， but with an overall impression of sweetness.

The first time I tasted durian was when I was posted in 13）Kuala Lumpur 15 years ago. Trucks piled high with the fruit would come in from the Malaysian countryside， and I would spend evenings sitting with friends on plastic stools by the roadside sampling different varieties. Unlike the Thais， who cut durians down from trees， Malaysians usually wait for them to fall. The result is a much riper and stronger-tasting durian， sometimes slightly 14）fermented. Durian farmers in Malaysia have been known to wear helmets： No one wants to be on the receiving end of a five-pound spikebomb. Malaysians also believe that durian is an 15）aphrodisiac. When the durians fall， the 16）sarongs go up， goes a Malaysian saying.

We live in a time when chemists and cooks have joined hands to 17）concoct foods of unrivaled complexity， in everything from packaged snack food to wallet-crushing meals at Michelin-starred restaurants.

What I love about durians is that there is no laboratory needed to achieve the depth and range of tastes they offer. It’s one of nature’s masterpieces， dangling 18）tantalizingly in the jungle. Durians， even those harvested from the same branch， can be so 19）nuanced and dissimilar that tasting them is something akin to sampling fine wine.

Bob， one of the foremost experts on the food of Thailand， who has written restaurant reviews there for decades， said that durian reminds him of 20）crème br？lée. “It tastes like something that was prepared in a kitchen， not grown on a tree，” he said after sampling a particularly delightful durian.

Durian season starts in May and tapers off around November in Thailand， depending on the latitude. But these days orchard owners have managed to 21）coax the fruit from trees year round. They are prized by the Thai elite， who offer gan yao durians， a delectable variety with a long stem， as gifts to business partners or senior government officials. （Yes， a durian bribe.） One fruit can easily sell for $50.

Durians also grow in Malaysia， Indonesia， the Philippines and other parts of Southeast Asia. In Malaysia， the season extends until around the end of the year.

Bob and I recently traveled to three places around Bangkok to sample durian： a high-end Bangkok fruit market； roadside stalls in Chinatown， where durian lovers can get their fix year round until the wee hours o f t h e s t e a m y Bangkok night； and the durian orchard outside Bangkok， cherished by durian 22）groupies for its more than two dozen varieties and 300 trees.

Durian is a very social fruit， usually eaten among friends. But I confess that I have sometimes eaten durian alone. Like eating birthday cake by yourself or drinking a 23）tall boy out of a paper bag in a public park， it feels somewhat sad and illicit， which brings up another point. As any durian fan will tell you， durian and alcohol don’t mix.

With every durian season comes stories about people who have collapsed—or worse—when they’ve had large quantities of durian and alcohol. I have never read or heard of a scientific explanation for this， if there is one. But it is widely recognized that durian season can be 24）deleterious to your health. A few years ago， after a routine physical checkup， I was told by my doctor that my 25）triglycerides， a type of fat in the blood， were above normal. She gave me a 26）pamphlet in which the first piece of advice was to cut down on durian or avoid it altogether.

But many of my fellow durian-loving friends are getting along in age， and it reassures me that， well， they are still alive. There are， after all， much more dangerous foods to consume than durian. 27）Blowfish comes to mind.

After a recent and particularly indulgent durianeating marathon， when we felt like rolling away instead of walking， Bob quoted 28）William Blake.“The road of excess leads to the palace of wisdom.”

當我的朋友鮑勃·霍里德想起榴蓮——那種被某些人形容為聞起來一股垃圾臭味的熱帶水果，他不光會滿心歡喜，口水直冒，他簡直就是“垂涎三尺”。在我們?nèi)ヂ缺边呉惶幑麍@參觀的前一夜，他就是這么說的。那果園里到處都是這些綠色的長滿粗刺的水果，在高聳的果樹上搖搖欲墜，很是驚險。

我承認，對于這種絕對是世界上最臭的水果，我有著和鮑勃一樣的熱情。

榴蓮到底長個什么樣兒？它形狀像一個插滿粗刺的英式橄欖球，手上最厚的老繭也能被它刺穿。由于榴蓮惡臭非常，大多數(shù)東南亞城市都禁止攜帶榴蓮上飛機、進酒店以及搭乘公共交通工具。

然而，像鮑勃和我這樣的榴蓮“發(fā)燒友”，會不遠萬里，取消重要的約定——做任何事——只為了能狼吞虎咽地吃下一團團軟嫩香滑的榴蓮果肉。雖然很多泰國人喜歡提前采摘榴蓮，這樣里面的果肉依然硬實，易于處理，但我更喜歡像農(nóng)家奶酪一樣濃稠的熟透榴蓮。不過吃起來就要弄得一團糟了。

不用說，榴蓮是一種兩極分化、富于爭議的水果。討厭榴蓮的人有一個悠久的傳統(tǒng)，他們無法忍受榴蓮的臭味和粘乎乎的口感，這種情況在到東南亞造訪的西方游客中尤為嚴重。在17世紀來到此地的一名法國外交官西蒙·德·拉·盧貝爾，他曾帶著不同尋常的同感心來描寫暹羅王國，卻也對榴蓮劃清界線，稱這種難聞的水果“讓人無法忍受”。

但作為一名從業(yè)近20年的外國通訊記者，在寫作時我總是努力尋求公正客觀，如今我卻要暫時放下客觀性，來為被馬來西亞人尊稱為“水果之王”的榴蓮唱上一曲贊歌。

不錯，我坦率地承認，榴蓮成熟時，聞起來可能像是動物的死尸。不錯，這種水果的外形像一件中世紀武器一樣，棘手得很。但當你嘗到了那淡黃色的、奶油狀的果肉，你會體驗到榛果、杏仁、焦糖香蕉和雞蛋奶油凍的混合滋味。我嘗試如此形容榴蓮，不過還是難以言表；沒有其他哪種水果能與榴蓮媲美了。鮑勃將其比作20世紀法國作曲家奧利弗·梅西安的作品：復雜、刺耳，但整體感受卻很甜蜜。

我第一次吃榴蓮是15年前被派往吉隆坡的時候。載著堆積如山的榴蓮的卡車會從馬來西亞農(nóng)村開進城里，我會整晚整晚地和朋友們坐在馬路邊的塑料板凳上品嘗不同種類的榴蓮。這里不像泰國，不會把榴蓮從樹上割下來，馬來西亞人通常會等到它們自己成熟后掉下來。因此這里的榴蓮熟得更透，口味也更重，有時候都有點發(fā)酵了。大家都知道馬來西亞的榴蓮農(nóng)戶要戴頭盔——誰也不想被一個五磅重的帶刺炸彈擊中。馬來西亞人還相信榴蓮是一種春藥。馬來西亞有句諺語：榴蓮落地之日，紗籠掀起之時。

在我們生活的這個時代，化學家和廚師們攜手調(diào)制出了無比復雜的食物，既有包裝零食，也有米其林星級餐廳里那些昂貴的美食。

我之所以喜歡榴蓮就在于，它們所展現(xiàn)的味道的深度和廣度無需經(jīng)過化學實驗就能達到。這是一種自然的杰作，就那么撩人地掛在叢林的枝頭上。即使是出自同一個樹枝上的榴蓮，味道也會有些微妙的不同，品嘗它們就像品嘗好酒一樣。

鮑勃是泰國食物的頂級專家之一，他寫當?shù)氐牟宛^評論已有數(shù)十年。他說榴蓮讓他想起了法式焦糖布丁?！八拖袷菑膹N房做出來的食物一樣，而不像是從樹上長出來的?！痹趪L完一個特別好吃的榴蓮后他如此說道。

在泰國，根據(jù)緯度的不同，榴蓮季從5月開始一直延續(xù)到11月。不過現(xiàn)在，果園主們已經(jīng)把這種果樹改造成全年產(chǎn)果了。榴蓮受到泰國精英階層的追捧。他們把“長莖”榴蓮，一種長有長莖的美味榴蓮品種，作為禮物送給生意伙伴或者政府高官。（沒錯，用榴蓮行賄。）一個這種榴蓮能輕易賣到50美元的價格。

馬來西亞、印度尼西亞、菲律賓和東南亞其他地區(qū)也有榴蓮出產(chǎn)。在馬來西亞，榴蓮季一直延續(xù)到年底。

最近，鮑勃和我去了曼谷附近的三個地方品嘗榴蓮：曼谷的一處高端水果市場；熱浪蒸騰的曼谷，中國城的路邊攤，榴蓮愛好者們一年到頭都可以在那里解饞，直至深夜；還有曼谷城郊的一處榴蓮果園，那里深受榴蓮粉絲的珍愛，因為園中種植了超過二十個品種的三百多棵榴蓮樹。

榴蓮是一種社交性很強的水果，通常是和朋友一起分享的。不過我承認我有時會獨自一人吃榴蓮。就像是自己一個人吃生日蛋糕，或者一個人在公園里偷偷從紙袋里拿一罐高罐啤酒出來喝一樣，顯得有點既傷感又偷偷摸摸。這讓我想起另一件事。每一個榴蓮愛好者都會告誡你，吃榴蓮時別喝酒。

每個榴蓮季都會傳出關(guān)于有人吃下大量榴蓮又喝了太多酒而病倒的故事——甚至還有更嚴重的后果。我確實從沒讀到或聽說過關(guān)于這種說法的科學解釋。不過有件事已被廣泛認同：榴蓮季可能對你的健康造成傷害。幾年前，在一次常規(guī)體檢后，醫(yī)生告訴我，我的甘油三酯——血液中的一種脂肪——超標了。她給了我一本醫(yī)囑小冊子，上面的第一條建議就是：少吃榴蓮或者不吃榴蓮。

但是我那些同樣愛吃榴蓮的朋友們都一年年安然度歲。嗯，他們都還活著，這讓我重拾信心。畢竟，世上還有比榴蓮要危險得多的食物呢。我頭腦中冒出了河豚。

在我們最近一次縱情榴蓮盛宴之后，當時我們像是滾著，而不是走著離開的，鮑勃引用了威廉·布萊克的名言：“過態(tài)非常乃通向智慧殿堂之路”。