BS: Durian Fruit - taste to die for?

Subject: BS: Durian Fruit - taste to die for?
From: Mr Red
Date: 27 Mar 06 - 06:42 AM

Maybe not, but very nice it is, in small quantities.

As I was in Thailand and smelled the odour before I saw the vendor. TI went for a smallish package (80 Bhat without haggling = 1.3 GBP) which was consumed in two sittings and each sitting was too much in one go - really. The two portions were about fist size each.

I was told later they are banned in hotel rooms (oops) and on public transport - but no one questioned me in the railway station hall.

What amazed me was all the flack I got about not eating Thai curries etc and when I quizzed my tormentors about durian fruit they all (to a man/woman) declared they couldn't get it past their nose! Unadventurous? Not me PAL!

Subject: RE: BS: Durian Fruit - taste to die for?
From: The Shambles
Date: 27 Mar 06 - 07:02 AM

Orang Utangs like it.

Subject: RE: BS: Durian Fruit - taste to die for?
From: The Shambles
Date: 27 Mar 06 - 07:03 AM

They are also red. Orang Utangs I mean.

What colour are ripe Durians?

Subject: RE: BS: Durian Fruit - taste to die for?
From: mack/misophist
Date: 27 Mar 06 - 07:57 AM

Personally, I can't get past the smell. But I have friends who love it. Taste is taste.

De gustibus non disputandum est.

Subject: RE: BS: Durian Fruit - taste to die for?
From: Rapparee
Date: 27 Mar 06 - 08:40 AM

If you like it, go for it. If you go for it at my place, I respectfully request you eat on the deck (and toss any remains in the backyard of my neighbor to the East).

Subject: RE: BS: Durian Fruit - taste to die for?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 27 Mar 06 - 10:11 AM

I've probably walked past it in the Asian market I take my daughter to every so often. Their fruit in there looks like it is from a different planet, not just a different continent. I have great curiosity about it, but no knowledge of how to fix it. This is interesting.

Here is some info.

Subject: RE: BS: Durian Fruit - taste to die for?
From: Uncle_DaveO
Date: 27 Mar 06 - 10:27 AM

I suggest an amendment to the thread title, to wit:

Durian Fruit - A smell to die from?

Dave Oesterreich

Subject: RE: BS: Durian Fruit - taste to die for?
From: Little Hawk
Date: 27 Mar 06 - 11:29 AM

It's odd that something that smells so bad would taste so good. Perhaps the answer is to shut off the nose (breathe through your mouth only) while approaching the Durian, and put it in your mouth without smelling it at all.

Subject: RE: BS: Durian Fruit - taste to die for?
From: GUEST
Date: 27 Mar 06 - 11:53 AM

I was once given a bag of durian flavour sweets, and almost everyone I gave them to thought they were practical joke sweets. My sister in law didnt speak to me for a week because they made her vomit and she thought it was a deliberate practical joke. Only my mam said "Mmmmmm, those are quite nice - can I have another one"

Subject: RE: BS: Durian Fruit - taste to die for?
From: Bill D
Date: 27 Mar 06 - 09:31 PM

I have some Durian jam right now..it is quite nice. The smell is 'interesting', but not terribly strong this way.

Subject: RE: BS: Durian Fruit - taste to die for?
From: Seamus Kennedy
Date: 27 Mar 06 - 11:56 PM

I've had it on several occasions. Also in ice-cream form.

The closest I can come to describing the smell is rotten vanilla.

It smells awful but actually tastes good going down; the taste will stay in your innards for a day or two, so that when you burp you can taste it again - repeatedly.

I've heard heard Hawaiian/Filipino people say "It tastes like heaven but smells like hell."

And yes, you can smell it quite a ways off.

Seamus

Subject: RE: BS: Durian Fruit - taste to die for?
From: The Shambles
Date: 28 Mar 06 - 02:22 AM

To encourage the orang-utans to forage for their own food in the wild, their meal is kept deliberately bland and monotonous. Every day it's the same, just milk and bananas. This way most orangs soon learn to find the delicacies of the jungle, and when the wild mango, durian or mangosteen are in season it can happen that no orangs turn up at the feeding station. Although the tourists may be disappointed, the rangers are delighted. The ultimate success of the rehabilitation programme is when an orang stops coming for its meals and instead settles permanently deep in the jungles of Gunung Leuser. And the greatest joy for the rangers is when a female orang temporarily returns, bringing her newborn baby

Subject: RE: BS: Durian Fruit - taste to die for?
From: GUEST,DB
Date: 28 Mar 06 - 03:45 AM

I vividly remember my first visit to Thailand - everything was so different - the climate, the language, the vivid colours and the smells; I really felt like a child again. Supermarkets and shopping malls smelled odd but eventually I realised that this was a consequence of the durian stalls - tucked away in a corner but scenting the environment for yards around. I had read about this stuff but didn't think that it was wildly unpleasant - just very penetrating. I tried some and quite enjoyed it - but it does repeat on you and that is an 'interesting' experience!

Subject: RE: BS: Durian Fruit - taste to die for?
From: robomatic
Date: 28 Mar 06 - 11:15 PM

I was touring the Pacific Northwest with my parents and with all deliberation purchased a big hunk of durian in the Chinese market of Vancouver. We kept it in the rental trunk and hung it in trees outside the motel rooms, no fear it would disappear! Lovely to taste. I think we got it back into America though we were told it was not approved to import. Can't think why, but maybe it has something to do with global warming.

Subject: RE: BS: Durian Fruit - taste to die for?
From: NH Dave
Date: 29 Mar 06 - 12:49 AM

It could also have something to do with pests or parasites that live on or in the fruit. At one time no one could import ANY fruit into California, personally, and they had officials at the entry points to insure you didn't. I suppose commercial firms had lists of fruit that they could import, and what precautions had to be taken with each variety. NO ONE wants their 40' long load of fruit sitting in the California sun for several days while your shipper and the California authorities argue about the required precautions before the fruit can be imported, so they obey the laws.

   Dave

Subject: RE: BS: Durian Fruit - taste to die for?
From: Scoville
Date: 29 Mar 06 - 10:14 AM

I'll have to ask my dad. He said they smelled rank but I don't recall what he told me they tasted like.

He bought one at a market when he was in Indonesia and shared it with all the school kids and beggars. Made himself very popular.

Subject: RE: BS: Durian Fruit - taste to die for?
From: Jeri
Date: 29 Mar 06 - 11:08 AM

It looks like a cross between a hedgehog and a tribble. No, I don't believe I ever saw or ate one, but I'd try.

Subject: RE: BS: Durian Fruit - taste to die for?
From: Kaleea
Date: 29 Mar 06 - 02:12 PM

Once I saw the Durian Fruit,
    and tasted of its poison.
But, I tell you that from here on out
    I'll neither see nor eat one!

Subject: RE: BS: Durian Fruit - taste to die for?
From: Joybell
Date: 29 Mar 06 - 07:00 PM

Hildebrand often talks fondly about them from his time in Asia. I'd love to try them.
We can sometimes get mangosteens at the local supermarket. Everyone else is highly suspicious and they never sell. We wait until the price comes down a bit and buy up as many as we can afford. Probably won't ever see Durians in the supermarket. Cheers, Joy

Subject: RE: BS: Durian Fruit - taste to die for?
From: Peace
Date: 29 Mar 06 - 07:26 PM

"Durian Fruit - taste to die for?"

Probably not. Cyanide however . . . .

Subject: RE: BS: Durian Fruit - taste to die for?
From: cryptoanubis
Date: 30 Mar 06 - 04:51 PM

The fruit that tastes like heaven and smells like hell , well the last part is right but if thats what heaven tastes like then i'm not going...

Subject: RE: BS: Durian Fruit - taste to die for?
From: Mr Red
Date: 31 Mar 06 - 12:11 PM

It was a nice taste - creamy but it does repeat on you and that is why I don't like onions


AND THATS ANOTHER THING.......................