I have never been able to bring myself into eating them. The smell is just too much.
IB4Thailand?
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!”
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.
I live in Singapore for 4 years. Nothing worse than getting stuck in traffic behind a truck transporting durian. GAG!
I think I would try an odorless during. We didn’t used to have durian in Papua but there are so many pendatangs now that there is a market for it. You know what I think about regular durian.
I’ve run across those things on the streets in Kuala Lumpur. You can’t stand the smell. I would either turn around or cross the street and hold my nose. They are banned from the hotels over there.
After many trips to Asia, I had to try a Durian.
Many businessmen would sneak out of their hotel on a secret mission to consort with a loose woman - or two... I snuck out surreptitiously, to find, buy and eat a Durian.
You are not allowed to bring a Durian into a 5-star hotel in most Asian countries and I think I tried my Durian when I was in Thailand. So first, you have to have a beer, or two... then I went out to find a Durian seller. I didn’t have to go far, as I saw some guys selling them right on the street. I tried to just buy a 1/4 of a Durian, as the things are huge... bigger than your head... but my English was not understood and I ended up buying the whole Durian, which the sellers promptly chopped up and bagged for me.
It stunk like hell.
Now, I had my Durian in a bag, and had to get it back to my hotel so I could eat it. The next thing I had to do was flag down a cab. No problem. Then I got into the cab... within about 2 seconds the whole taxicab stunk like Durian. I saw the driver cringe, but he said nothing.
He silently drove me to my hotel.
Now, I had to get into my hotel room without them catching me... so I stood outside in the dark and waited until the entire hotel staff was busy... then quickly sauntered in to an unused elevator.
The stink probably followed me all the way to my room and took days to go away....
I took my bagged durian right into the bathroom and immediatly shut the door and turned on the fan.
I had dishes and flatware, so tried my first Durian in the bathroom of a five-star hotel. It was actually quite tasty, although I had to hold my nose to take the first bite. I thought of the grade-school experiment of holding your nose when you bite into both an apple and onion...
The fruit was delicious, but there was way too much of it for one person to eat, so I had my fill and then had to smuggle the rest right outside of my hotel or it would have stunk up my entire floor.
I bagged the rest and went outside and gave it to some beggars. They seemed pleased.
Anyway, Durian is not bad tasting, but the smell is unbelievably bad.
When you are in Singapore, they even have signs with a picture of a Durian and the familiar red circle with a line through it over the Durian... much like the anti-smoking signs that are so familiar.
No Durians!