給榴蓮的情書

文/Thomas Fuller繪/馬豆子

When my friend Bob Halliday thinks about durians①durian 英 ［'d??ri?n］ 美 ［'d?ri?n］ n.榴蓮；榴蓮樹， the tropical②tropical 英 ［'tr?p?k（?）l］ 美 ［'trɑp?kl］ adj. 熱帶的；熱情的；酷熱的fruit that some say smells like garbage， he not only salivates with delighted anticipation， but he also "foams like a geyser."

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 callused③callused 英 ［'k?l?s］ 美 ［'k?l?s］ adj. 結繭的hands， durian stinks so badly that it's banned from airplanes，hotels and mass transit in most Southeast Asian cities.

Yet aficionados like Bob and I will travel terrible distances， cancel important appointments—do anything—to scarf down globs of custardy flesh from a durian.

It goes without saying that durian is a 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 Siam， drew the line at durian， describing it as "unbearable" because of its smell.

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 medieval weapon. But get down to the pale yellow， creamy flesh， and you'll experience overtones of hazelnut， apricot④apricot 英 ［'e?pr?k?t］ 美［'?pr?kɑ?t］ n. 杏，杏子；［園藝］ 杏樹；杏黃色 adj. 杏黃色的，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 20thcentury French composer: complex， dissonant⑤dissonant 英 ［'d?s（?）n?nt］ 美 ［'d?s?n?nt］ adj. 刺耳的；不和諧的；不調(diào)和的， but with an overall impression of sweetness.

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 tantalizingly⑥tantalizingly 英 ［'t?nt?la?z??li］ 美 ［'t?nt?la?z??li］ adv.令人著急地；撩人地in the jungle. Durians， even those harvested from the same branch，can be so nuanced and dissimilar that tasting them is something akin to sampling fine wine.

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 deleterious to your health. A few years ago， after a routine physical checkup， I was told by my doctor that my triglycerides⑦triglyceride 英 ［tra?'ɡl?s?ra?d］ 美 ［tra?'ɡl?s?r?d］ n. ［有化］甘油三酯，a type of fat in the blood， were above normal. She gave me a pamphlet⑧pamphlet 英 ［'p?mfl?t］ 美 ［'p?mfl?t］ n.小冊子in which the first piece of advice was to cut down on durian or avoid it altogether.

But many of my fellow durianloving 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.

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”。

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。

榴蓮到底長什么樣兒？它的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。

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黏糊糊的口感，這種情況在到東南亞造訪的西方游客中尤為嚴重。17世紀來到此地的一名法國外交官西蒙?德?拉?盧貝爾，曾帶著不同尋常的同理心來描寫暹羅王國，卻也對榴蓮劃清界線，稱這種難聞的水果“讓人無法忍受”。

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須經(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。

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。

A Love Letter to Durians