“Heaven inside; Hell outside.” The ultimate tropical fruit, Durian is spottily available in specialty markets. Like the unrelated Stinking Toe, Papaya, and Guava, this fruit is famous for how it affects people differently, partly because there seems to be a disconnect between how it smells and how it tastes. Regardless, many people who claim near addiction to the flavor will readily admit the aroma is off-putting.
Cooks might search it out to flavor sweet desserts, but it is more commonly eaten fresh. In a market, Durian would be a bit precious, and kept with other exotic fruit.
Systematists consider Durio as a member of the Malvaceae, and would incorporate it into a display that includes Okra and even Cacao.
Morphologists could describe the fruit as a Loculicidal Capsule, inside which the seed are covered by a fleshy aril… , which sounds very similar to the structure of Cacao. Since the outer wall is more like a leathery rind, I’d use the same term as we designated for Cacao, and call it a Pod. (For more info, see: JSTOR: The Species of Durio with Edible Fruits, Wertit Soegeng-Reksodihardjo, 1962, Economic Botany, Vol. 16 (4), pp. 270-282)