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Eating Thai Fruit Demands Serious Effort but Delivers Sublime Reward

nytimes.com

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Re: Eating Thai Fruit Demands Serious Effort but Delivers Sublime Reward

#11

Post by grawprog »

deanCommie wrote: post #5
Nursie wrote: post #3

On a recent trip to Bangkok it was often hard to tell whether one was approaching an actual open sewer or just a durian stall. Sad I missed the fruit market though, I bet they have a massive variety of banana cultivars. I tried a couple I'd never had before when over there.

I'm curious is aversion to durian is at least somewhat genetic, similar to cilantro and broccoli. I spent 6 weeks traveling around Southeast Asia (Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam), including several days in Bangkok. I ate a metric ton of durian, jackfruit (my favourite), mangostein, lychie, and so forth. I never noted any negative durian odour, and I just assumed that "it must always be fresh in Southeast Asia", an…

I've got a friend in the Philippines who loves durian. It's her favourite fruit. she goes nuts for it. She'll eat a whole bag at once and still want more. Even there though, there's people who can't stand it. A lot of her friends and coworkers dislike it and complain when she eats it around them.

Re: Eating Thai Fruit Demands Serious Effort but Delivers Sublime Reward

#13

Post by harikb »

As someone who grew up in southern India in a house literally surrounded by at least few dozens of these trees[1], most of them also hosting black pepper creepers, I wonder how this became Thai Fruit? Come on, we even have a western name!

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jackfruit

Re: Eating Thai Fruit Demands Serious Effort but Delivers Sublime Reward

#14

Post by fiblye »

teruakohatu wrote: post #6
deanCommie wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm curious is aversion to durian is at least somewhat genetic, similar to cilantro and broccoli. I spent 6 weeks traveling around Southeast Asia (Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam), including several days in Bangkok. I ate a metric ton of durian, jackfruit (my favourite), mangostein, lychie, and so forth. I never noted any negative durian odour, and I just assumed that "it must always be fresh in Southeast Asia", an…

After reading the article I thought the same thing. People who hate cilantro tend to absolutely hate even the thought of it.

I sometimes wonder if there's a genetic component affecting how people smell and taste durian, just like with cilantro. To me it's just a little stinky, like someone fried onions a couple hours ago and the smell is mostly faded, but the flavor is pure sweet creaminess.

As an example, once made a cup of durian coffee in a different room on a different floor entirely and someone stormed out of the building because of the odor. I didn't mention that I made it before that happened, so it wasn't just an exaggerated response. Nobody else could smell it. Not even I could smell anything beyond just plain old coffee.

Re: Eating Thai Fruit Demands Serious Effort but Delivers Sublime Reward

#15

Post by sg47 »

harikb wrote: post #13

As someone who grew up in southern India in a house literally surrounded by at least few dozens of these trees[1], most of them also hosting black pepper creepers, I wonder how this became Thai Fruit? Come on, we even have a western name! [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jackfruit

By Thai fruit, the article is referring to fruit popular in Thailand like jackfruit, lychee that are tasty but difficult to eat.

Re: Eating Thai Fruit Demands Serious Effort but Delivers Sublime Reward

#16

Post by sg47 »

teruakohatu wrote: post #6
deanCommie wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm curious is aversion to durian is at least somewhat genetic, similar to cilantro and broccoli. I spent 6 weeks traveling around Southeast Asia (Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam), including several days in Bangkok. I ate a metric ton of durian, jackfruit (my favourite), mangostein, lychie, and so forth. I never noted any negative durian odour, and I just assumed that "it must always be fresh in Southeast Asia", an…

After reading the article I thought the same thing. People who hate cilantro tend to absolutely hate even the thought of it.

I'm in this boat and my wife thinks I'm being fussy. The thought of cilantro wants to make me puke but no one ever seems to relate to it. The worst part is my native cuisine uses cilantro extensively.

Re: Eating Thai Fruit Demands Serious Effort but Delivers Sublime Reward

#18

Post by sg47 »

deanCommie wrote: post #5
Nursie wrote: post #3

On a recent trip to Bangkok it was often hard to tell whether one was approaching an actual open sewer or just a durian stall. Sad I missed the fruit market though, I bet they have a massive variety of banana cultivars. I tried a couple I'd never had before when over there.

I'm curious is aversion to durian is at least somewhat genetic, similar to cilantro and broccoli. I spent 6 weeks traveling around Southeast Asia (Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam), including several days in Bangkok. I ate a metric ton of durian, jackfruit (my favourite), mangostein, lychie, and so forth. I never noted any negative durian odour, and I just assumed that "it must always be fresh in Southeast Asia", an…

I liked durian icecream when I was there but I can't remember if I ate actual durian. I didn't mind the durian icecream but it did taste a bit like garlic icecream (which I have eaten in Gilroy) and jackfruit icecream mixed together.

Re: Eating Thai Fruit Demands Serious Effort but Delivers Sublime Reward

#19

Post by tyingq »

deanCommie wrote: post #5
Nursie wrote: post #3

On a recent trip to Bangkok it was often hard to tell whether one was approaching an actual open sewer or just a durian stall. Sad I missed the fruit market though, I bet they have a massive variety of banana cultivars. I tried a couple I'd never had before when over there.

I'm curious is aversion to durian is at least somewhat genetic, similar to cilantro and broccoli. I spent 6 weeks traveling around Southeast Asia (Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam), including several days in Bangkok. I ate a metric ton of durian, jackfruit (my favourite), mangostein, lychie, and so forth. I never noted any negative durian odour, and I just assumed that "it must always be fresh in Southeast Asia", an…

I guess it could be, but durian smells like a dumpster on a sunny day to me. That's much more pronounced than cilantro tasting a bit like soap.

Re: Eating Thai Fruit Demands Serious Effort but Delivers Sublime Reward

#20

Post by no_carrier »

deanCommie wrote: post #5
Nursie wrote: post #3

On a recent trip to Bangkok it was often hard to tell whether one was approaching an actual open sewer or just a durian stall. Sad I missed the fruit market though, I bet they have a massive variety of banana cultivars. I tried a couple I'd never had before when over there.

I'm curious is aversion to durian is at least somewhat genetic, similar to cilantro and broccoli. I spent 6 weeks traveling around Southeast Asia (Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam), including several days in Bangkok. I ate a metric ton of durian, jackfruit (my favourite), mangostein, lychie, and so forth. I never noted any negative durian odour, and I just assumed that "it must always be fresh in Southeast Asia", an…

It's actually the other way around. The pre-sliced or non-fresh durian tends to have lost a lot of the odour.

Hotels and public transport in Thailand don't ban it for no reason.

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