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Durian is a hard sell, we know. Any fruit that tastes like a cross between a banana and an onion, with a smell like a natural gas leak is doomed to be an acquired taste. Nevertheless, on the other side of the initial cringing and nose-wrinkling lies a creamy fruit pulp that, in a single ingredient, perfectly straddles the sweet-savory boundary. And given the recent trendiness of salt-sweet hybrids, we figure it's just a matter of time before chefs start holding their noses and reaching for a few of Chinatown's hanging mesh bags of spiny durian.
Before that happens, we would like share a product we found recently that might help ease your palate gently into the world of durian: Rhinoceros (no affiliation with Marc Ecko) brand 
Durian Flavour Sting Cookies. Ridiculously inexpensive at $1.99 for a 9.5 ounce bucket (at Hong Kong Supermarkets in Manhattan and Sunset Park, Brooklyn), these little Vietnamese cookies are made with whipped tapioca starch and are pressed out into long, meringue-light shapes, then baked. The 'sting' in the cookies' name comes from their prickly surface markings–not from any sort of hidden heat or shocking surprise. The bumpy treats are perfect to set out in a dish at the end of a dinner party, and because their durian aroma is very subtle–the predominant flavor of the cookies is sweet coconut cream–it is easy to eat six or seven of the spiny little snacks before you even notice the nuances from the durian. And when you do, the aromas are soft and tempered by the sweetness and richness of the other ingredients. No sting here whatsoever, no matter what the label says.
