Hi fellow durian lovers! I have just finished feasting on fresh durian from a village orchard in Malaysia, yummy! If any of you are interested in the fine art of choosing durian and opening this thorny King of Fruits, read on at [lilfootprint.blogspot.com].
Cheers!
Grace



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/23/2011 04:04AM by Prana.

gracetabithalim Wrote:
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> ......If any of you are interested in
> the fine art of choosing durian and opening this
> thorny King of Fruits
I don't think there is a foolproof way to select a good Durian. I knew a professional durian eater once, who bought whole durians 5 to 10 at a time, and one-half of them (or more) were bad. Some so much so they had to be thrown out. Others could be mixed with the better ones to make them palatable.
The lesson I learned was to stay away from Durians. Plus they stink, and contain too much Fat......WY

> I don't think there is a foolproof way to select a
> good Durian. I knew a professional durian eater
> once, who bought whole durians 5 to 10 at a time,
> and one-half of them (or more) were bad. Some so
> much so they had to be thrown out. Others could be
> mixed with the better ones to make them
> palatable.
> The lesson I learned was to stay away from
> Durians. Plus they stink, and contain too much
> Fat......WY

Hi WY! Thanks for replying! Sorry you don't like durian :p. I don't know of any professional durian eaters but would love to meet one some time! I have eaten durian since I was a wee baby, but it doesn't mean I would know how to choose a good one. For our durian feasts, my Pa goes through piles of hundreds of durian and ends up with about 30 to 60 fruit that are up to his high standards. All of them are exquisite in taste, none bad. He has had over 40 years experience honing the fine art of selecting durian, so while there may be no foolproof way to choose durian, he's pretty much got it down

Can you imagine being surrounded by 30 - 60 durian? Gah, no offense to those who like them but even the idea of that stench is enough to turn my stomach!

Is the smell really that bad?, ive seen videos of people munching them down easily.

Would love to try one.

[www.vegankingdom.co.uk]

powerlifer,

Gack!

Also, WY, what the heck is a "professional" durian eater? Is that on his business card?

"So, what do you do?"

"I'm in durian"

"You're in . . . in what?"

Hi Grace,

Thanks for the article on selecting durians. I have always been challenged in selecting fresh durian. I seem to do ok on choosing the frozen Thai durian.

PS: I edited your post because the link was broken.

powerlifer Wrote:
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> Is the smell really that bad?, ive seen videos of
> people munching them down easily.
>
> Would love to try one.
>
> [www.vegankingdom.co.uk]

Powerlifer, the smell is pungent indeed - just the thought of that fragrance is enough to make my mouth water. I think it's because I associate the smell with the taste (which I love) and I grew up eating it. If you visit Malaysia drop me a line and we can have a fresh durian together

Tamukha Wrote:
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> Also, WY, what the heck is a "professional" durian
> eater? Is that on his business card?
>
> "So, what do you do?"
>
> "I'm in durian"
>
> "You're in . . . in what?"

LOL Tamukha that cracked me up!!!
Grace

Prana Wrote:
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> Hi Grace,
>
> Thanks for the article on selecting durians. I
> have always been challenged in selecting fresh
> durian. I seem to do ok on choosing the frozen
> Thai durian.
>
> PS: I edited your post because the link was
> broken.

Prana, thanks for fixing my link, I didn't realise it was broken! You can't go too wrong with frozen Thai durian - the fruit are all consistent in size, flavor, and texture, because they are usually one of a few clones grown for the export market. Hope you will have fun honing your skills on your next fresh durian choosing outing!

Tamukha Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Also, WY, what the heck is a "professional" durian
> eater? Is that on his business card?
>
> "So, what do you do?"
>
> "I'm in durian"
>
> "You're in . . . in what?"
Ha Ha....that's very funny.
A 'PDE' (Professional Durian Eater) is someone who thinks about Durian day and night, and spends a good portion of time gathering, storing, preparing, and eating Durians. Not to mention disposing of the pungent Carcasses. They live and die (emotionally) based on the flavor of the current Durian. It's a nasty habit. If you've never tried Durian, don't start. Plus, they're high in Fat......WY

WY,

I am laughing so hard at what you wrote! It's almost a David Attenborough nature special voiceover

WheatgrassYogi Wrote:
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> A 'PDE' (Professional Durian Eater) is someone who
> thinks about Durian day and night, and spends a
> good portion of time gathering, storing,
> preparing, and eating Durians. Not to mention
> disposing of the pungent Carcasses. They live and
> die (emotionally) based on the flavor of the
> current Durian. It's a nasty habit. If you've
> never tried Durian, don't start. Plus, they're
> high in Fat......WY

HAHAHAHA!!! Too funny! By that definition I may be a PDE. I could sign up for 'Durians Anonymous' but I think my Durian addiction is too deep-seated to cure. Maybe hypnosis might cure me. Re: 'don't start if you've never tried durian', I never stood a chance - my Ma fed me durian as a wee baby, so this addiction was nurtured from infancy. Oh well, I guess I'll just have to suck it up and enjoy this durian that I'm holding right now.

gracetabithalim Wrote:
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> ......Oh well,
> I guess I'll just have to suck it up and enjoy
> this durian that I'm holding right now.
The Professional Durian Eater I knew couldn't control her addiction, but she could control the amount she ate.....limiting it to 8-ounces (or so) daily. I haven't eaten Durian in years, but when I did, I had trouble controlling the amount. There's nothing quite like the taste of a good Durian......WY

WheatgrassYogi Wrote:

I haven't eaten Durian in years, but when I
> did, I had trouble controlling the amount. There's
> nothing quite like the taste of a good
> Durian......WY

WY, AMEN to that!

I was fortunate enough to finally get to try the 'Musang King' Durian tonight, a variety of durian that early this (durian) season cost upwards of $20 per kilogram ($30 per fruit) but now was within my reach at $7/kg. It's so delectable that a gambling tycoon sent his personal jet to Singapore to pick up some 88 of the stinky fruit! The fruit was a deep turmeric yellow, soft, creamy and sweet, moderately pungent and with very, very small seeds (= more flesh!).

gracetabithalim Wrote:
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> I was fortunate enough to finally get to try the
> 'Musang King' Durian tonight, a variety of durian
Why don't you share with us how it was?
The Professional Durian Eater I knew, sometimes had 3 Durians cut at a time. I mean you cut one, and it was only a 6 or 7 ( we rated each Durian on a scale of 1 to 10)...so naturally we had to cut open another to try improve on the first one...and if that wasn't a good one...well, you get the picture.
I was thinking about going to an Asian Store I know, and buying some Durian, but decided Durian is a food I don't want to eat on a regular basis, so why go at all just for a taste?......WY

WY, I'm salivating just remembering the flavor of that Musang King durian variety. Like I said, it was moderately pungent, sweet, with no bitter notes, therefore what I would consider mild. I like to start off with a very mild durian, then work my way over the next few durians to stronger-tasting durians, and end with a bitter, very strong smelling durian. All of them are carefully picked and therefore delicious, but having an order to the durian course heightens the enjoyment of that feast :p. I would probably not do the Asian store thing unless I were desperate. It's just not the same. I don't eat durian on a regular basis either - it's a seasonal fruit and best taken at the peak of the season when it tastes awesomest