Why?

 "A Thai scientist thinks he has found the key to more widespread acceptance of durian, by creating odorless varieties of the fruit. After 20 years of cross-breeding, researcher Songpol Somsri has come up with a durian "that smells as inoffensive as a banana" according to an article today by The Guardian." catch the story on WikiNews

Now I haven't tried Durian yet (it is on my list of things to eat before I die) but I do have to ask if this is progress.

(image: typical sign in hotels and public transportation banning Durian) 

Inside is a yellow, custard-like flesh that has been described as nutty and sweet, perhaps like a fine French cheese.  Because of the smell, which apparently can be overpowering, durian is said to be an acquired taste.   ... But surely a durian that doesn't smell like a durian will lose some of its taste... 

No thanks... when I do finally try it, I'll go with the Real Thing.  ( I suffered through the learning -or is that tasting curve- for all kinds of things that I now love eg. Scotch, beer, and assorted foods from around the world... I'm really not looking for something bland that no one could really fall in love with, give it to me 'right' or not at all)

Is durian the same as a jackfruit? sounds similar

They are similar - I'd classify them in the same family of fruits - tropical, pungent, fleshy etc.... But a durian takes much more getting used to. Mind you, I don't quite care for jackfruit either, unless it's cooked in a curry.

Bric - I'm not sure, but me thinks an odorless durian would most definately lose its taste... I mean, doesn't taste come from smell as well?

Not all of it ... but a good part of the overall sensation does(we have taste buds for bitter/sweet etc. but much of the rest is a result of interactions with smell from what I understand.... one of the reasons things don't seem as appetizing when you are stuffed up).

But what I actually meant was that when you selectively breed out a quality from a plant you often lose more than just one factor....I believe there are many roses with very little smell as they were primarily bred for looks. 

Yeah.... Will have to wait and try it, but I have to say I would be hesitant to in the first place

Being a lover of durian - i don't think that the odourless durian will taste any good. Like right now - we pick durian based on it's smell (as well as it's weight and hollowness).

If there's no odour then how on earth are we going to pick fresh durians? 

and considering that it's the smell that lures me to the fruit in the first place.

Kuddos to you Bric for wanting to experience the real deal!!! 

OH!! And while Jackfruit and Durian may look similar - they are very different fruits.

Taste completely different too. 

They're still in the same family

I guess.... 

Still I love either fruit.

Last weekend I went up to Kuala Lumpur........attempting to stalk Marty.

Anyways - on the way back - I bought more than 5kg of fruit.

real fresh stuff - plucked fresh from the trees in the surrounding farms.

my best purchase was the Jackfruit - kept me occupied on the coach ride back.

Also bought Mangosteen

Jambu (Water Roseapple)

Rambutan

and Duku

In the past week - I have been in heaven!!!

Have to say freshly picked fruit are in a league of their own.

Having close to 8kg of fruit already, I had to be disciplined about not buying durian - tragically. 

Not just that i would not be able to handle all the weight - but I also thought of the poor passengers on the Coach. Decided to spare them the trauma of the smell.

Now all that i can think of driving up 3 hours from Singapore to buy Durian as compensation

I miss duku and rambutan!!!

And lychees!!!!!

Lychee season is here!!!!

i will never eat a durian...with or w/o smell...

Without smell, might taste different.... we don't know.

Do you like mangoes?

Love mangoes. yum
 yum
        yum yum
lol

*drools*

me too..... unfortunately last season wasn't a particularly good one for mangoes... hopefully it gets better this summer

What are those chinese fruits that look like big oranges and have these big segments in them.

I had one with a German girl in Montreal once....

And I think I had Jack Fruit on Zanzibar.

I have no idea what you're referring to Mick...

You mean - Pomelo?

or Grapefruit?

Nah, something different. Like gyoza but not a dumpling. I mean gyoza was the word. Hmmmm

Lemme look it up.

It's about the size of a large rockmelon, but it sort of has mini oranges inside....

I can't find it. Oh well.

btw, Bricoleur - in the words of Anthony Bourdain, "The Durian tastes nothing like how it smells."

He loves it btw!!! Despite the smell

I have a true story about Durian. It involves a Durian, a knife, two fire trucks and an evacuated office building. You can probably fill in the dots...

BTW, my Indonesian buddies tell me that falling Durians still kill several people each year.

I am going to try it.... just haven't got to the Asian Market yet.

Yeah, fred.... durians might just be the most dangerous fruit in the world

heh heh I'm very  interested to hear this story of yours!

We used to rotate group lunche every Thursday, everyone bringing something from their own homeland; chinese, indian, indonesian, syrian, americano, just to get a taste of each culture and hear stories from back home. One day Ruddy brings in a durian; it was already cut up and in a plastic container. He laughs as he says, "Tastes like heaven, smells like hell." So we open it. Smells? True dat.

After about 10 minutes, a guy in the back of the office pulls the fire alarm because he smells a natural gas leak. The entire building is evacuated. Hilarity ensues. I quickly cover the durian and put it in my desk drawer and we spend all of the evacuation time outside assuring Ruddy that his beloved durian is not the culprit. He is hard to console, but finally buys the story that the gas leak is one big coincidence. The fire department has been all through the building and can't find the source of the leak. Lovely.

An hour later we're admitted back in and life goes on. A few hours later, I'm with Frank and we decide to test the theory that even we are starting to believe. Open the drawer and remove the lid to the durian. Not so bad, everything seems ok. All of a sudden, Jim shouts from the back of the office. "Holy crap, I smell it again!". Luckily, he hasn't pulled the alarm yet, so cover the durian and rush back to his office and swear that we can't smell a thing so that he won't call the FD again.

That was about 15 years ago and we're spread out over the world now, but we still chat and phone and snicker whenever someone says, "Remember when Ruddy brought the durian..."

Acknowledgement to Sun Microsystems for their 6 CD install set of OpenSolaris that allowed me the time to type this story.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

That's so funny!!

No wonder hotels ban em!

Dear guys,

If you come around Bangkok, Thailand, let me bring you to eat all of these fruits here.

Durian - one of the most delicious! - If you know the right breed, it's call 'Mhon-Tong'  creamy, soft, sweet. Dont believe what they say about smell. The smell is great when you eat. (I also dont like the smell when other people are eating. Amazing, huh?) Dont be so mean on it. For once in your life, just try. It wont kill you, hehehe.

Jack fruit - Totally different from durian, eventhough it looks similar from outside. The meet is more sweet and not as creamy. It was my favorite when i was young.

Longan - This one is my favorite. Juicy and sweet. I can eat Kilos of it!

Rambutan - The hairy fruit. Some of you may have tried them in syrup. That's good enough because they taste similar fresh or canned.

Lychee - The smell is very pleasurable! Sweet and a bit sour. It's juicy. Select a bunch with 'heart shaped' ones you will get lychee with small seeds (yeah, small seed means more meat) 

Mango - Must try with sticky rice!!!! Try Thai style 'mango with sticky rice' and you will forget other deserts. Trust me. And there are some ice cream shop in Bangkok where they put a half mango + sticky rice + a scoop of mango vanilla icecream. I would say 'Heaven'. Let me know if you come around and want to try.

Orange - our oranges are different from your orange in the picture. One of the best is called 'Honey orange'. Sweet and a little bit sour. Very good!

Roseapple - Not so sweet one. But it is ok.

And for MICK said

"What are those chinese fruits that look like big oranges and have these big segments in them.

I had one with a German girl in Montreal once...."

It's Pomelo, the big green orange with pink or white segments inside. The segments are like small pulp packed together. It very tasty and the next morning you will find sitting in toilet is a very easy job. Because it facilitate the extrusion of your sh*t  - smooth as silk (sorry about by explanation, hahaha). And the important thing is that it's not chinese. Here in Thailand we have one of the best pomelo called 'Kao-Pan'. And yes, we export to China. 

In Thailand, just 10 dollars, I believe you can eat all of them (and of course many others)

Just email me know when you visit Bangkok

zryxy-at-hotmail-dotcom

Oh yeah.... isn't the best durian a specific type of Thai durian? King of the durians I think they call it.... am I right?

You are correct, dekrazee1. We call it 'Mon-Tong'

Ah, so that's the one...
I've heard great praises sung about it

By the way, fredmedlin's story is so so funny. Love it!

Chinese Pomelo

They sung about what?!  Mon Tong durian?! hahaha.

hahaha no no, I meant that as a figure of speech

Everyone I know who has tried Mon Tong say its very very good

no one really posted a dangerous durian pic. But here's proof that you don't just have to walk under a durian tree to get hurt!

zryxy - i'd love to try a fruit bowl sampler in Bangkok!

fredmedlin - What is fruit bowl sampler? I might be able to help you.

Is that you the the picture? That's Thailand, right?

Please let me know if you come!

There was one time my Japanese friend came to visit me. I let her try 'Sala'. She went crazy about it. Has anyone tried this 'sala' yet?

What's sala?

I think they call it 'Zalacca' or 'Salacca' in english. Sweet + great smell. Red skin with tiny spikes. The meat is light orange. Big seed. 2-3 pieces in one Sala.

Another good one is mangosteen. I think you know it.

LOVE mangosteen!!!

Salacca:

I think I've had it once.... and I think I liked it

The salacca in your picture is quite different from here. We have something more rugby-shape, not round like this. And the seed is also oval not round.

Anyway, if you come to Bangkok, I'll get all these stuff for you to eat.

One interesting thing about mangosteen is that it has an indicator on it's buttom where we can see how many pieces of meat inside without peeling it. I was so amazed my dad always made right guess when i was a kid. Finally he showed me the trick. But i think everybody knows now.

I didn't know that!

Then again, I never really waited long enough to admire the shell...

hahahaha, then you should play guessing with your friend and get their money with this trick, hahahah

heheheheh Good idea! I will!

*evil laugh*

You can also do the same thing with Durian by counting the spikes and devide the number by 46, you'll get the number of pieces.

Isn't it pretty standard with durians? 8 sections (beds), 3 seeds in each?

for Durian, I'm just kidding

Anyway, the number of beds in a durian are not equal. Could be 4-8, and also some beds have only one seed (or even seedless).

hahahaha oops

Oh yeah, that's true.... I forgot abt that....

Haven't opened a durian for many many years

Dont have to, just EAT!!

But.... but.... opening it is the fun part!!!

(I don't quite like durians)

good, you open it, i eat it. we could be a good team

I recently went for a trip to malaysia and came across this lovely fruit called - Pulasan.

It's like the fruit rambutan but heaps better. Tastes awesome!!!

If you can try then go for it. Its flesh does not stick to your teeth and it tastes much better and sweeter.

Okay, that's a first.... tho the flesh and seed look exactly like the rambutans'!

and zryxy, that sounds like a good plan!