Durian Is Like No Other Fruit.

[southern california guy]

Last night I was eating durian while surfing the internet.  The first time I tried it I,  I had to get up my nerve to even try it.  To me it didn't taste as bad as it smelled.  I would describe that initial taste as being something like walnut custard -- but not terribly sweet.  However the smell was something like rotten onion combined with rotten garbage.

 

You ask if I ate it all?  Yes... I don't know why...  I just had a package with a couple of pieces and it had been a little pricey.  It seemed wrong to throw it away.

 

The second time I tried it was when I thought that it would be funny to buy a whole durian and let my parents and brother try it. Well... we ate it.  And strangely this time it was not as intense as the first time.  But it seemed a little sweeter.  However the smell sort of ruined the experience for me.

 

Anyway I heard that the store 99 Ranch had fresh durians for sale, and being the adventurous eater I decided to buy one and try that.  I figured that it would probably be better than the frozen kind I had eaten the times before.  Besides the fruit seems like the most exotic tropical fruit you can possibly imagine and I find it interesting for just that reason alone.

 

When I got to the store I found that they only had whole durians -- shipped frozen from Thailand.  I wasn't going to buy one but then I smelled them and I was surprised to find that they didn't smell all that bad.  In fact they smelled pretty darn good.  So I picked one out -- by smell -- and bought it!  My brother and his wife and kids were visiting and I invited them to try some.  My brother tried it -- and agreed that it tasted much better than the smell.  His wife refused to try it and went outside to get away from the smell.  But I didn't think that the smell of this one was too bad.  I could not smell the rotten onion, or the rotten garbage.  I thought the smell was intense -- but I kind of liked it.  And when I tried it I was impressed by how good it was.  It was much sweeter than the first two, and I would describe the flavor as a little lemony, spicy, and maybe a little like rice pudding, with maybe a subtle raspberry flavor thrown in.  However, my brothers wife was not so impressed and described the smell as rotten garbage.....  My mom agreed that this one was much much better then the one that I had bought the time before.  And that maybe that one was bad....?

 

But I am starting to change my mind.  When I ate some of the durian last night I would have to say that the tastes and smells totally filled my senses.  My house smells of durian and I find the smell surprisingly good.  It seems a little strange that my brothers wife would describe the fruit as smelling like rotten garbage -- when it doesn't smell at all that way to me at all.  I am starting to think that Durian is too intense and complex for a first time eater to either appreciate or even handle.  I think that there is a sensory overload.  This is only my third durian but now I am starting to appreciate the appeal.  There is no other fruit that fills the senses so fully.  Wikipedia describes "sensory overload" as: "Sensory overload occurs when one or more of the body's senses experiences over-stimulation"  I think that durian creates sensory overload for the uninitiated.  Of course how many westerners would eat it often enough to get past the initial smell, and taste -- and begin to really appreciate it?  It has been called the "King" of fruits, and perhaps it really deserves that title.

 

 

 

 

 

[CrossCuT]

Sounds like the durian has you under mind control

[southern california guy]

Sounds like the durian has you under mind control

 

Nah,  it is just a fruit...... Like no other  :evil:

[southern california guy]

One word of warning -- if you are adventuresome enough to acquire a taste for this fruit -- don't eat it while drinking alcohol.  This is not just an urban legend.  The Japanese did a study on it and found that durian prevents the metabolism of alcohol.  So you can easily get alcohol poisoning when you combine it with durian.  So if you eat durian -- don't drink.  And if you drink -- don't eat durian.  Seriously.

Edited August 24, 2013 by southern california guy

[CrossCuT]

Do you know this by experience? 

[southern california guy]

Do you know this by experience? 

 

Yes, by experience....  :sad:   Which was later backed up by a Japanese study that I found when I did an internet search..

[CrossCuT]

Eesh!! That doesnt sound fun! :(

If it prevents the alcohol metabolism I wonder if it effects anything else.

Does this fruit have negative effects on the liver as a whole or is it just alcohol?

[southern california guy]

Eesh!! That doesnt sound fun! :(

If it prevents the alcohol metabolism I wonder if it effects anything else.

Does this fruit have negative effects on the liver as a whole or is it just alcohol?

 

Just alcohol, as far as I know.  It is actually considered an extremely nutritious fruit.  And it is a very popular fruit that has been eaten for hundreds of years.  The only caution I have heard is about alcohol.  Curiously durian seems to warm your body up when you eat it.  And it is high in Tryptophan so you will sleep well after eating it.

[MariaCarolina]

As far as I know eating durian redundantly, causing some negative effects such as rising your blood pressure and cholesterol. So this fruit isn't recommended to eat for people with high blood pressure.

[CrossCuT]

It does not really appeal to me haha so I wont likely be trying it anytime soon

:disguise: