Durian is a spiny, dangerious-looking fruit popular in some parts of southeast Asia and elsewhere. It’s famous for its strong, unusual smell, which is hard to discribe, but not entirely unlike the stuff they add to natural gas so you know there’s a leak.
In terms of flavor, it’s worth it, and not just for the experience. I liked it, in small quantities, but a little went a long way. The texture was wonderful, the flavor, to me, anyway, was similar to banana and mango with a distinct hint of roasted garlic, which is… odd. I still have no idea how to tell if it’s ripe or not.
I was afraid to try it, because I have had bad experiences in the past with durian-flavored stuff, but the real thing is so much better then any store-bought cookies or whatever, as long as you can handle the smell.

For Christmas, I got my brother the Toothpaste for Dinner book, and he got me this book by John Hodgman. If Christmas is a contest to see who can give the weirdest gift -and I truely hope it is- then he won hands down.