Bountiful Harvest

[catttan]

As a durian lover I can't help but chip in with my two-cents' worth. With durians there is no middle ground: you either love it or hate it. Almost every South-east Asian loves it and most Caucasian hate the smell. Here's how Caucasian friends of mine describe it : polite comment from an Englishman 'It smells like bad onions', - a less polite comment from an Italian ' It's like eating the best Italian ice-cream in a smelly Malaysian toilet.' an American comment 'It tastes like heaven and smells like hell'. For those not familiar with durian (it means the 'thorny one' ). .... take your pick from the comments.

In Malaysia it is called the 'King of Fruits'. Incidentally the mangosteen is called the 'Queen'.

Malaysians believe durian is an aphrodisiac : thus the saying 'When the durian comes down, sarongs go up'. Normally you have to wait for the ripe durian to drop. Chinese Malaysians say that durian is 'heaty', gives you sore throat and also raises the libido (the yang effect) and you have to eat mangosteen to cool down (ying). How convenient as both share the same season!

In Malaysia, airlines and hotels ban bringing in durians as the smell permeates everything and the air-con will just spread the smell everywhere.

I have two durian trees growing in the backyard; both are of exceptional quality.I'm posting pictures of my durians and also a pic (taken 15 years ago!) of the harvest from my rambutan tree, which I had to chop down to make way for the extension to the orchid shade house.

[catttan]

Here are some more pictures.

Pic 1 & 2 - Durian flowers and buds and an immature fruit

Pic 3 - The fleshy pips - yellow variety

Pic 4 - Enjoying the fruits. Finger-licking good!

Pic 5 - Durians from my tree var Kop; the biggest weighed 7kg (15 lb)

Pic - Rambutan harvest, 15 years ago!

[Daethen]

Wish I was there too, Angel. I would be able to enjoy the fruit and the orchids!!

[harvey]

As a durian lover I can't help but chip in with my two-cents' worth. With durians there is no middle ground: you either love it or hate it. Almost every South-east Asian loves it and most Caucasian hate the smell. Here's how Caucasian friends of mine describe it : polite comment from an Englishman 'It smells like bad onions', - a less polite comment from an Italian ' It's like eating the best Italian ice-cream in a smelly Malaysian toilet.' an American comment 'It tastes like heaven and smells like hell'. For those not familiar with durian (it means the 'thorny one' ). .... take your pick from the comments.

In Malaysia it is called the 'King of Fruits'. Incidentally the mangosteen is called the 'Queen'.

Malaysians believe durian is an aphrodisiac : thus the saying 'When the durian comes down, sarongs go up'. Normally you have to wait for the ripe durian to drop. Chinese Malaysians say that durian is 'heaty', gives you sore throat and also raises the libido (the yang effect) and you have to eat mangosteen to cool down (ying). How convenient as both share the same season!

In Malaysia, airlines and hotels ban bringing in durians as the smell permeates everything and the air-con will just spread the smell everywhere.

I have two durian trees growing in the backyard; both are of exceptional quality.I'm posting pictures of my durians and also a pic (taken 15 years ago!) of the harvest from my rambutan tree, which I had to chop down to make way for the extension to the orchid shade house.

Dear Yew Sung,

I like Durian very much! Though I am German.
BTW, meanwhile you can buy frozen Durian in Germany.
P.

[angel]

Thank you for these nice shots Yew Sung. Too bad the rambutan tree had to go, but I'm sure you have others still bearing fruit on your lot.

You're right about the durian having a side effect on one's temperature. When I was a boy, I would run a slight fever every time I ate too much durian.

[lanhua]

Yew, you are right, I know this saying from Asia. I loved it. As visited Singapore I travelled with my friend to Joho Bahru, just to get rip durian.
I know also controversy, which durian is better from Malaysia or Thailand. I'm neutral.
Angel, Indian people would tell you, you are absolutely wrong.Go in May to Mumbai, it's a pick season for mango in India and buy "Alfonso". Sorry to say, for me this fruit is better then from Philippines. The consistency of flesh and the smell, great.
No I'm curios of the reaction of our Indian mango lover

[catttan]

Yew, you are right, I know this saying from Asia. I loved it. As visited Singapore I travelled with my friend to Joho Bahru, just to get rip durian.
I know also controversy, which durian is better from Malaysia or Thailand. I'm neutral.
Angel, Indian people would tell you, you are absolutely wrong.Go in May to Mumbai, it's a pick season for mango in India and buy "Alfonso". Sorry to say, for me this fruit is better then from Philippines. The consistency of flesh and the smell, great.
No I'm curios of the reaction of our Indian mango lover

Glad you like durians. Singaporeans love to travel to Johor Bahru to get what they believe is the best durians but take it from me, the best of Malaysian durians come from the northern states of Penang and Perak which have a distinct dry season, perfect for durians.

As for the controversy about which is the better durian Thai or Malaysian, I'm sure your Singapore friend(s) would vote for the Malaysian. But actually Malaysians and Singaporeans have been brought up on the ripe durians that have dropped naturally and so have a more 'matured' taste and stronger smell/odour and thus a more 'aged' (fermented) flavour. The Thai durian if allowed to ripen on the trees and drop, would taste and smell like the Malaysian ones too. But the Thais like to collect the durians before they ripen on the trees for easier marketing and transport - and thus the taste and flavour is less 'rich' than the Malaysian ones. As I live in the extreme north, on the border with Thailand I have the opportunity to taste the really 'ripe on the tree' Thai durian from Pattani and Narathiwat and I can assure you that they taste as rich as the Malaysian varieties.

I have tasted the Alfonso mango imported from India but my friends who have been in India said that the imported ones are nowhere as tasty as the ones he ate in India.As for me I love the Thai King Mango which can be eaten green or ripe. In my state we have our own 'Harum Manis' which means Fragrant and Sweet. We also have our own 'Sala' which fruits throughout the year (no season) and thus is perfect for making the spicy green mango salad (mamuang yam in Thai or kerabu mangga in Malay. Though not up to the best when eaten ripe it is perfect for making mango juice. My friend who owns a mango orchard planted only with the Sala is making very good money supplying the green mangoes to restaurants serving Thai food.

@Angel : Unfortunately that was the only rambutan tree on my lot which is not that big, actually.

[delilah]

I keep coming back to this thread. The durian looks like the Indian Jack fruit, which can be terribly smelly and is considered an acquired taste too, and certain varieties are incredibly delicious.

[angel]

I keep coming back to this thread. The durian looks like the Indian Jack fruit, which can be terribly smelly and is considered an acquired taste too, and certain varieties are incredibly delicious.

They are quite different Gita. We have the jackfruit too. Most of the varieties have fruit that are much, much bigger and more oblong in shape than the durian. It doesn't have spikes like the durian.

It has a distinctly different smell. The jackfruit has a sweet, rubbery pulp while that of the durian is creamy.

But, Gita, you are right. The jackfruit is delicious and the durian is delicious. No arguments on that! ;-)

[angel]

Yew, you are right, I know this saying from Asia. I loved it. As visited Singapore I travelled with my friend to Joho Bahru, just to get rip durian.
I know also controversy, which durian is better from Malaysia or Thailand. I'm neutral.
Angel, Indian people would tell you, you are absolutely wrong.Go in May to Mumbai, it's a pick season for mango in India and buy "Alfonso". Sorry to say, for me this fruit is better then from Philippines. The consistency of flesh and the smell, great.
No I'm curios of the reaction of our Indian mango lover

Hello. We don't have the "Alfonso" variety in Cotabato so I would not have any opinion on that. We have so many varieties of mango in the Philippines and the "wani" which I specifically mentioned in this thread is not grown commercially and is not exported to other countries, and, though commonly found in Central Mindanao, usually in the provinces of Maguindanao, Cotabato, and Lanao, it's quite rare in other parts of the country. So unless you have visited these areas and eaten mango right here, there's a very big chance that you ate some other variety of mango.

And, I never claimed that we have the best mangoes around. Each country would have its own varieties and preferences. And I respect that.