Durian.

Durian is the big spiky fruit you smell from the other end of the market. Inside the hard green husk sit a few sections, each holding pale yellow pods of flesh around large seeds. A ripe pod is soft and custard-like, sweet and rich, with a savoury, almost onion-like note that people either love or can't stand. Many people in Thailand have a favourite stage: some like it barely ripe and firm, others wait until the flesh is very soft.

Ways to use it

• Eat the pods as they are, cool from the fridge or at room temperature.
• Spoon soft durian over warm sticky rice with salted coconut cream, a classic hot-season dessert.
• Blend the flesh into ice cream, a milkshake or a filling for crepes.
• Cook very ripe pods slowly with sugar until thick and dark, the way durian paste, thurian kuan, is made at home.

Storing it

A whole durian keeps ripening on its own, and the husk starts to split along its seams when it's ready. Leave it somewhere cool and airy, away from other food, because the smell travels. Once opened, take the pods out, close them in a box with a tight lid and keep them in the fridge, then eat them within a few days.

Where it comes from

Grown to certified organic standards. The certificate for each lot is shown when you trace your pack.

Every pack will carry a lot code. Enter it on the Trace your pack page and you will see the farms in that lot, the harvest date and the certificate.