Durian Delight

Now that I'm all settled in, let me give you a more descriptive picture of the beautiful farm. It is important and quite fabulous to note that Kumu Aina is totally off the grid. They're running a totally solar powered establishment, water comes from an enormous 25,000 gallon water catchment tank (the water they filter tastes just like SmartWater I swear!), and all "facilities" are outdoors. There are a number of stand alone structures throughout the property including my humble abode, which is a spacious screened in hut surrounded by a beautiful grove of banana and mango trees. Although initially I was worried I wouldn't be able to handle the early mornings, (naysayers beware) I've found that I love nothing more than listening to the sounds of rain and coqui frogs as I go to sleep and the sound of the rooster calling in the morning when the sun comes up!

This morning I tasted my very first Durian. For those who don't know much about this "King of Fruits" as it is known- here's a little education: The fruit is known for its its large size, unique odor (best described as pig-shit, turpentine and onions, garnished with an old gym sock) and formidable thorn-covered husk. The edible flesh emits an extremely strong and penetrating stink, even before you open up the fruit. Some people think it's a beautiful fragrance others find it offensive (I think it smells like crap but tastes amazing) but either way it's a rare fruit that evokes a fairly intense appreciation and hardcore nearly addict following. Durian only drops once a year (currently for about the next month or so give or take) and gives you an almost high when you eat it (not kidding it makes me all giddy and gives me the Asian glow!)

This is probably one of Terri and Bob's highest grossing commodities- going for $3 a pound, sometimes a single Durian weighing up to 8 lbs! We check for Durian "drops" at least twice a day (they are ripe and ready when they fall from the tree) and you have to be super careful while walking around the tree, because if one of these babies fell on your head you would be out for the long haul. People come out of the woodwork, literally at all times of the day to purchase the fruit- no joke a woman came with her young kids, and while she was picking out her ideal fruit her son said, "Mom, please don't spend all the rent money on durian again..."

This morning we took a picking tour of the avocado orchard. They've got 25 varieties and 84 trees on the farm, each tasting differently in their own exquisite way. We pick the avos from the tree with a picker to take to market, but retrieve all the ones that have fallen to the ground for our own personal eating pleasure. They grow a variety here called Ota- which in my personal opinion is 20x better tasting than Haas and has creamy butter like consistency. Believe me when I say it's the best guac I've ever consumed (all of you knowing that I've had my fair share of gauc!).

Our final picking mission for today was for Mamey Sapote, another new fruit for me and I would imgaine most anyone else who isn't a native of Mexico. Bob has nicknamed this fruit "Mamey Support Us," because once they started passing out samples at the farmers market the demand surpassed everything else they sell. How to describe this unbelievable flavor to those of you who aren't lucky enough to have sampled it...I would have to say it tastes just like already cooked sweet potato already smothered in butter, brown sugar and marshmellows (just the way I like them!!) It has the consistency of an avocado, you cut it like a mango, and due to the fact that it takes 2 full years to ripen on the branch it has some seriously coveted nutrients which equate to hardcore health benefits. I personally love to eat it plain, put in in my yogurt for breakfast, or blend it into a delicious smoothie.

NOTABLE MEALS:
Breakfast- Toast with fresh avocado; stir fry with fresh farm eggs, ulu (something like a potato but sweeter- delicious in hashbrown form), and fresh sasusage from the farm next door; and to top it off my first taste of Durian.
Lunch- Fresh batch of guac from the avos we picked earlier in the day (their guac recipe is simple and amazing- avos, garlic salt and soy- try it out and you will not be disappointed). 2 extemely juicy Lilikoi and some freshly hulled raw mac nuts.
Dinner- For dinner tonight we got a special treat, Bob made an amazing Beef stew with some grass fed beef they acquired from their neighbors, carrots, beans, onions, mushrooms and barley from the farm.