A question about Durians?

Question

I smelt some frozen durian in a chinatown store. The smell was so vile but does it taste better than it smells. I cannot understand why some people do like it going on by smell?

Answer 1

Uses

[edit] Culinary
Wikibooks Cookbook has an article on
DurianDurian fruit is used to flavour a wide variety of sweet edibles such as traditional Malay candy, rose biscuits, cakes, and, with a touch of modern innovation, ice cream, milkshakes, mooncakes and even cappuccino. Pulut Durian is glutinous rice steamed with coconut milk and served with ripened durian. In Sabah, red durian (D. dulcis) is fried with onions and chilli and served as a side dish.[29] Tempoyak refers to fermented durian, usually made from lower quality durian that is unsuitable for direct consumption.[30] Tempoyak can be eaten either cooked or uncooked, is normally eaten with rice, and can also be used for making curry. Sambal Tempoyak is a Sumatran dish made from the fermented durian fruit, coconut milk, and a collection of spicy ingredients known as sambal.

In Thailand, blocks of durian paste are sold in the markets, though much of the paste is adulterated with pumpkin.[31] Unripe durians may be cooked as vegetable, except in the Philippines, where all uses are sweet rather than savoury. Malaysians make both sugared and salted preserves from durian. When durian is minced with salt, onions and vinegar, it is called boder. The durian seeds, which are the size of chestnuts, can be eaten whether they are boiled, roasted or fried in coconut oil, with a texture that is similar to taro or yam, but stickier. In Java, the seeds are sliced thin and cooked with sugar as a confectionary. Uncooked durian seeds are toxic due to cyclopropene fatty acids and should not be ingested.[32] Young leaves and shoots of the durian are occasionally cooked as greens. Sometimes the ash of the burned rind is added to special cakes.[33] The petals of durian flowers are eaten in the Batak provinces of Indonesia, while in the Moluccas islands the husk of the durian fruit is used as fuel to smoke fish. The nectar and pollen of the durian flower that honeybees collect is an important honey source, but the characteristics of the honey are unknown.[34]


[edit] Medicinal
In Malaysia, a decoction of the leaves and roots used to be prescribed as an antipyretic. The leaf juice is applied on the head of a fever patient.[35] The most complete description of the medicinal use of the durian as remedies for fevers is a Malay prescription, collected by Burkill and Haniff in 1930. It instructs the reader to boil the roots of Hibiscus rosa-sinensis with the roots of Durio zibethinus, Nephelium longan, Nephelium mutabile and Artocarpus integrifolia, and drink the decoction or use it as a poultice.[36]

In 1920's, Durian Fruit Products, Inc., of New York City launched a product called "Dur-India" as a health food supplement, selling at US$9 for a dozen bottles, each containing 63 tablets. The tablets allegedly contained durian and a species of the genus Allium from India and vitamin E. They were claimed to provide "more concentrated healthful energy in food form than any other product the world affords".[37]

Durian typically contains (per 243 grams): [38]

Energy: 357 calories
Fat: 13.0g
Cholesterol: 0mg
Sodium 5mg: 5mg
Carbohydrates: 65.8g
Dietary fibre: 9.2g
Protein: 3.6g

[edit] Durian customs
In some Asian countries, durian is believed to have warming properties liable to cause excessive sweating. The traditional method to counteract this is to pour salted water into the empty shell of the fruit, after the pulp has been consumed, and drink it.[39] An alternative method is to eat the durian in accompaniment with mangosteen that is considered to have cooling properties. People with high blood pressure or pregnant women are traditionally advised not to consume durian.

Another common local belief is that the durian is harmful when eaten along with alcoholic beverages. This belief can be traced back at least to 18th century when Rumphius declared that one should not drink alcohol after eating durians as it will cause indigestion and bad breath. J. D. Gimlette claimed in his Malay Poisons and Charm Cures (1929) that it was said that the durian fruit must not be eaten with brandy. In 1981, J. R. Croft wrote in his Bombacaceae: In Handbooks of the Flora of Papua New Guinea that a feeling of morbidity often follows the consumption of alcohol too soon after eating durian. Several medical investigations on the validity of this belief have been conducted, with varying conclusions.[10]

The Javanese believe durian to have aphrodisiac qualities, and impose a strict set of rules on what may or may not be consumed with the durian or shortly after.[40] The warnings against the supposed lecherous quality of this fruit soon spread to the West. The Swedenborgian mystic Herman Vetterling was particularly harsh on durian:

These erotomaniacs remind us of the Durian-eating Malays, who, because of the erotic properties of this fruit, become savage against anybody or anything that stands in their way of obtaining it. Fraser writes that upon eating it, men, monkeys, and birds 'are all aflame with erotic fire.' It is a blessing that this fruit is not obtainable in the West, because our store of sexual lunatics is already full to overflowing. We might perish in the foulest of mucks.[41]


A durian fruit with its sharp thorns.A durian falling on a person's head can cause serious injuries or death because it is heavy and armed with sharp thorns, and may fall from a significant height, so wearing a hardhat is recommended when collecting the fruit. For this reason the durian is sometimes called the most dangerous fruit in the world, along with its name in Vietnamese, sầu riêng, meaning "private sorrow". However, there are actually few reports of people getting hurt from falling durians. Durian farmers spread large nets under the trees to catch the fruit when it falls naturally, precisely because of the dangers of falling fruit; the nets are elastic and placed sufficiently high to prevent the fruit from hitting the ground. While there is a belief among locals that the durian "has eyes" and will not fall on a person, it is probably because fruits on a durian tree don't fall at the same time, which significantly decreases the possibility that it will hit a passerby. The Malay saying Durian runtuh, which can be translated as "Fallen Durian", is used to describe the sudden occurrence of a rare event. A similar saying in Indonesian, "mendapat durian runtuh", which translates to "getting a fallen durian", means receiving an unexpected luck or fortune.

Some durian are sold "thornless". These fruits have the thorns sheared off when young rather than being naturally thornless. Some durians really do have almost no spines, i.e. less than 5 mm high.


[edit] Cultural influence

Singapore's Esplanade building, nicknamed "The Durian".The durian is commonly known as the "king of the fruits", a label that can be attributed to its formidable look and overpowering odour.[42] Due to its unusual characteristics, the durian has been referenced or parodied in various cultural mediums. To foreigners the durian is often perceived as a symbol of revulsion. The 19th-century American journalist Bayard Taylor said of the fruit, "To eat it seems to be the sacrifice of self-respect.[43]. It can also be seen in the Japanese anime Dragon Ball, which features the loathsome villain Dodoria, whose name and appearance have been derived from the durian fruit. Dodoria, a large pink alien with short spikes on his head and forearms, was given an unattractive role which required slaughtering numerous characters and was eventually killed himself. The TV series Fear Factor featured the durian during a challenge in which participants were required to face the "Blender of Fear": a concoction of ground-up pig brains, rooster testes and cow eyes, and durian juice as the side beverage.

In its native southeastern Asia, however, the durian is an everyday food and portrayed in the local media in accordance with the different cultural perception it has in the region. The durian symbolised the subjective nature of ugliness and beauty in Hong Kong director Fruit Chan's 2000 film Durian Durian (榴槤飄飄, Liulian piao piao), and was a nick name for the reckless but lovable protagonist of the eponymous Singaporean TV comedy Durian King played by Adrian Pang. Likewise, the oddly shaped Esplanade building in Singapore is often called "The Durian" by locals. In Malaysia, there is a slice-of-life comic strip by C.W. Kee which has Sunday colour editions called It's A Durian Life.

Being a fruit much loved by a variety of wild beasts, the durian sometimes signifies the long-forgotten animalistic aspect of humans, as in the legend of Orang Mawas, the Malaysian version of Bigfoot, and Orang Pendek, its Sumatran version, both of which have been claimed to feast on durians.[44][45]

Mark Twain, in his book Following The Equator, had this to say about his experience with the durian during a visit to Southeast Asia:

There was a great abundance and variety of tropical fruits, but the dorian was never in evidence. It was never the season for the dorian. It was always going to arrive from Burma sometime or other, but it never did. By all accounts it was a most strange fruit, and incomparably delicious to the taste, but not to the smell. Its rind was said to exude a stench of so atrocious a nature that when a dorian was in the room even the presence of a polecat was a refreshment. We found many who had eaten the dorian, and they all spoke of it with a sort of rapture. They said that if you could hold your nose until the fruit was in your mouth a sacred joy would suffuse you from head to foot that would make you oblivious to the smell of the rind, but that if your grip slipped and you caught the smell of the rind before the fruit was in your mouth, you would faint. There is a fortune in that rind. Some day somebody will import it into Europe and sell it for cheese.

In accordance with its reputation as an aphrodisiac, the durian's flavour has been used in condoms. In Thailand, durian-flavoured condoms used to be sold at 7-Eleven nationwide.[46] Indonesia began selling durian-flavoured condoms in 2003. According to the director of DKT Indonesia, the country's leading condom distributor, 150,000 of the durian-flavoured condoms were sold in their first week on the market

Answer 2

I think there are biological differences between South East Asians and Westerners which make durian smells different to the two groups. P/S: We are very lucky to be able to enjoy the taste of this exotic fruit with tastes like nothing else on Earth. By the way the best durians come from Malaysia. They research durians and mix DNA of different species to produce the ultimate durians. D24 is the favourite.

Answer 3

I take it you're asking someone who's grown up with durians to answer how they can bear its smell... Well, as someone from Malaysia, it puzzles me why anybody would say the durian smells like shite. I remember when we brought a durian to school, our Somali teacher just freaked out and didn't want to enter the class. I think we got the period off, LOL =)

Well, growing up with the fruit definitely must have influenced my mind, but scientifically, if I'm not mistaken, the chemicals that cause smell and taste are the same. For me (and all durian-natives, I guess), the smell of durian is *similar to its taste*, which is sweet. You can smell it from a mile away, and I admit that it's strong, but it's *not* bad.

So durians do not smell like shite at all to us (and they don't taste like garlic either). Jeez... I personally wouldn't eat it if it smelled like that... Though cheese--which IMO is the only edible thing that 100% actually smells like shite--is one of my favourite foods.

Hmmm, that just made me think: Asians eat cheese (as far as I know) despite the smell. Why are "Westerners" making such a big fuss out of durians?

P.S. My favourite cheese is Mozarella! And my favourite durian is the D24! Remember people, think *BIIIIIG* and open *WIIIIIDE*

Answer 4

Ohhh.. honestly? i love the smell!!!! hahaha.. but yeah, i guess as u realised how the smell is, the taste is pretty much the same. it has a very strong taste. try it and see if u like it. try a bit because last time my friend tried it, he hated it and he said it lasted in his mouth for a long long time.. and make sure drink warm water afterwards.

to get a good durian, we have to look at it from the skin and the smell, thats why some people like to smell it (like i am).

Answer 5

Yummmmieee..... it tastes really good, only very few westerners like this unique fruit, maybe bcoz they are not used to it. You should try it..
I used to hate it coz of its smell, but once i tried i get creazy for it..
or maybe u can try durian candy or ice cream first, to get the idea of how it tasted, with lessen smell.
But i think the smell is the art of it, that's why it is considered unique and liked by most of Asian countries. It's not poisonous so you can try it a bite...

Answer 6

Try it and decide for yourself. Like other said, either you like it or hate it. If you want to try it, get a smaller size container of the frozen one. The whole fresh ones are more expensive and you have to know how to open them up. The shells are like porcupine, pointy and sharp. Jack fruit is a diff. kind of fruit, nothing close to durian but does smell better.

Answer 7

durian is not a jackfruit though their skin looks similar. the smell is kinda strong but the taste is really really good! it has a milky taste in every bite. in thailand, you can buy a durian chips that taste like almond nuts w/o the smell..

Answer 8

Durian is considered the King of all fruits in asia. But it's an accquirred taste. It's either you love it or you can't stand it.

P.S. They can't stand some of the cheese we eat either, like stiltion or blue.

Answer 9

the taste of durian is like meat with garlic and onion with sweet taste instead of salt.durian is regarded as natural rejuvenator and it will make the body a Little bit hot and active.it is like natural Viagra!

Answer 10

Besides the smell, it's the best thing in the world! It's very very sweet and it has a smooth texture. It's very delicious. You MUST try it. You won't even notice the smell after a while.

Answer 11

HMMM.. Durian taste ok but not my favorite.