Posted on 07/29/2007 12:20:56 PM PDT by JACKRUSSELL
I have never been able to bring myself into eating them. The smell is just too much.
I saw some dude try on The Travel Channel. He got it in his mouth... and he spit it out. Said it tasted like soft onions.
IB4Thailand?
I saw that too. Bizarre Foods by Andrew Zimmern. He had no problem eating a still beating frog heart but the durian was just too much.
Why would one want to eat something that smells like, you know
What does it smell like?? I’ve never heard of durian ...
Some say rotten onions, others characterize it as rotten meat.
I know people who absolutely love the taste.
I got this on line:Some of the more common comparisons include overripe cheese, fermented onions, rotten fish, and unwashed socks. (The bad smell, of course, performs a very important function: It attracts jungle animals to the fruit to facilitate seed dispersal.)
You’re really on top of the stinky vegetable stories today.
My wife just said to me in Japanese after I revealed this exciting news to her: “If it doesn’t stink, it’s not Durian!”
>>I got this on line:Some of the more common comparisons include overripe cheese, fermented onions, rotten fish, and unwashed socks.
I would say unwashed colored socks after a day at the office and a hour’s workout at the gym.
Either way I would have to think long and hard before I put it in my mouth.
About five years ago, my local grocery had them in the produce department. The produce guy didn’t have a clue as to what they were, I did as I had read about them somewhere.
They were about the size of a football and covered with spikes, but really didn’t stink at all. I have since learned that unripe durians shipped frozen don’t compare at all to those purchased fresh in their home territory.
I asked the produce guy what they wanted for one, he said $3.50, I think I talked him down to $2.00. I later learned that they really were $3.50 a pound, and these things weighed at least 10 lb. They usually had 3 or 4 on display and I think I’m the only one who ever bought one, (I'm probably the only customers who knew what they were - we don’t have any Asian population here to speak of).
I kept it around till it started to get mushy, even then it didn’t stink much at all. As I recall these many years later, it tasted kinda like weak vanilla custard made with spoiled milk. (My Grandfather was Polish and he used to keep his milk out without refrigeration for a few days till it got all sour and nasty. He considered it a delicacy). I ate a few bites, its not something I would turn down if I was starving, but it’s not something I will go out of my to consume any time soon.
If I remember some of my durian trivia correctly, people have sold their houses and all their possessions to indulge in their durian habit, and an Englishman who had served in the area shuttered his house, got on a sailing ship for a six months journey just so he could satisfy his longing for another taste.
maybe as some macho test of manhood.
Durian, to me, is totally repulsive. I have to drive with the car windows open for a week after my wife transports one home. By agreement, she cleans and eats them our in the yard. None can be kept in the refrigerator or anywhere in the house. I have not encountered any other fruit that comes close to the repulsiveness of durian. In fact, Thailand has some of the freshest and most delicious fruits and melons in the world. The mango and papaya are sweet and grow in most peoples yards. Longyai, Nga, Longan and others uncommon in the West will make fans of most. However, one whiff of durian will put a Farang like me off his feed for the rest of the day. Rant over.
And the “Bizarre Foods” guy, Andrew Zimmern described his taste as “ really mushy rotten onions “. Sounds delightful. BAARRRFFFFF.
Go to your local Southeast Asian market. They are quite popular although very stinky ... like a really horrible stinky cheese.
I’m not likely to buy a whole one. I wish they would offer samples.
I live in Singapore for 4 years. Nothing worse than getting stuck in traffic behind a truck transporting durian. GAG!
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