Fruit is a food that cannot be absent from the diet of everyone in the world. All fruits have nutrients and vitamins that we need for our health and for us to eat them, nature is wise and has focused on making these foods look good on the outside and inside, so they are attractive to us and we eat them with taste ... in order to benefit from all its nutrients. But nature forgot to make one of all its fruits attractive, I mean the Durian, the stinkiest fruit in the world.
If a fruit is stinky, the last thing people want is to eat it, we won't even want to have it near us!! A smelly or bad-looking food We will not be able to eat it, because our instincts will tell us that it is dangerous to our health and that we may be putting ourselves in danger.
Durian in the markets of Bangkok
If you have walked through some market in Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur or Singapore (among other cities), and you have noticed an intense smell of a dead animal (although some say it smells more like excrement), surely you have passed near a fruit stand where they sold the infamous durian. It is actually infamous for unsuspecting tourists who have dared to try it, because it is actually known throughout Southeast Asia as the king of fruits.
How is this fruit so peculiar?
Some describe it as: 'It's like eating vanilla cream in a latrine, and its smell can be described as pig excrement, varnish and onions, all mixed with a sweaty sock.'
The durian grows on the trees known as durium and is found throughout Southeast Asia, although it is a native fruit of Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei. It is a fruit that is easy to recognize, not only because of its intense smell, but also because of its appearance. Of considerable size (up to 30cm long), it has an elongated or rounded shape and is covered by thorns. In fact, its name comes from the Malay "duri", which means thorn. The pulp of the durian is fleshy and yellowish to orange in color, with a sweet taste, although an aroma that is difficult to bear.
People who want to eat it have to do so holding their breath because the stench is unbearable for some.
An experience with the durian
A colleague of this writing had an experience with this peculiar fruit and describes it this way:
“My first experience with the durian was in a market in the Hindu neighborhood of Singapore. I approached a stall that sold it, and instantly the shopkeeper was offering me a piece to try. The funny thing is that said shopkeeper showed a sly smile while he offered me the fruit, surely aware of what my reaction would be when trying it. I have to tell you that if you can bear the smell of durian, the taste is very sweet. "
I am sure that many people who sell this fruit and who are used to its smell will laugh at the reaction of other people to being faced with this fruit for the first time.
In some places it is forbidden
So strong is its smell that it is prohibited in many airports, hotels and public transport, throughout all of Southeast Asia. It is without a doubt a unique experience that you cannot miss, because once you smell the durian for the first time, you will always remember it.
Love and hate towards fruit
This fruit, even if its skin is intact and unopened, has such a powerful stench that many people cannot bear it. You can smell it from a distance. Instead, there is a small minority of people who love the smell and taste of fruit. It seems that the fruit can raise love in some people but tremendous hatred for others.
There are people who eat the inside of the fruit raw, but there are also those who prefer to eat it cooked. The interior of the durian can also be used to flavor a number of Southeast Asian dishes, and is even used to make traditional sweets.
There are also people who feel great devotion towards this fruit because it is also used for traditional Asian medicine, since it serves as an anti-inflammatory, to lower fever and even as a powerful aphrodisiac.
Why does it smell so bad
This fruit smells so bad because it is a mixture of different chemicals that causes it to produce this strong smell. Compounds are identified by very different chemical formulas each other (there are about 50 chemical compounds in total).
It is interesting that none of the chemical compounds individually seem to have anything to do with this fruit, but that between all of them they combine different smells and make it disgusting. The smell it gives off is between fresh, fruity, metallic, burnt, roasted onion, blue cheese, garlic, honey ... and each person who smells it adds something different depending on the perception of each one.
All this makes people feel authentic devotion to this fruit, or quite the opposite ... that they feel repulsed and can't even get close.
Some reactions to durian
Children's reactions
In this first video that I put to you thanks to the REACT YouTube channel, you will be able to see it in English, but it is not necessary that you know this language to know how they react to this fruit because their faces and behaviors say it all. I have put this video first because children are the most sincere and you can see in them the reality of this peculiar fruit.
To a girl who loves
In this second video I want to show you the reaction of a girl who really loves durian and who enjoys both its shape, its smell and taste ... it really seems that it is a fruit that excites, To what extent would you like her like her? I found it thanks to the AnaVegana YouTube channel.
Do you think that you would like this fruit very much or that you would feel repulsion towards it? Have you ever tried it? Tell us about your experience!
I do not understand people's reaction, if from the beginning it has a horrible smell, but not an unpleasant taste, because the "reaction" occurs when they eat freshly?
I like all fruit and if it is exotic or very rare much better, I know that if they offer me a durian I would agree to eat it without caring about its supposedly tremendous stench
I wonder the same. Perhaps the smell just came out when biting into the fruit. I do not know.
I have bought in oriental food stores, sweets made with this fruit, and they are really exquisite, although I must admit that my husband refuses to kiss me if I have eaten that pill seconds before hahahahahahaha ... ... the sweet is still delicious.
I loved your article! thank you
Jolin I do not understand anything I have been in Thailand for a month and I eat this fruit almost every day because I love it, its taste is really exquisite and it smells strong but it does not smell like excrement or anything you say ... I do not understand anything ... the same is that at this time of year the durian smells like what it is, fruit and it is exquisite and I have been very lucky….
DELICIOUS !!. Whenever I go to Southeast Asia I taste it with great pleasure (vlr). The downside is that it is only served in street stalls, for obvious reasons. The first time I was in Malaysia and bought, I put it in the hotel and the smell did not go away until we left. Later we found out that it was forbidden to bring him into hotels.
I respect very much whoever likes it… but I tried it when I went to Thailand and at the first bite I must say that it gave me a gag that I almost vomited…. It has a very peculiar "flavor" that tourists find difficult (apart from the disgusting smell, which is evident, and no one can deny it) ... although there are people who find it delicious, for tastes, there are colors !!
I find it hard to believe that someone who has actually tried durian says it tastes great. It smells awful and tastes worse than it smells.
Although they may look alike, this jackfruit from Nayarit is very tasty, it doesn't smell bad and I'm eating it in Monterrey, Mexico
Actually, I am not Asian nor have I traveled to Asia, this fruit when I was a child my grandmother sometimes prepared for me what in my country we call a «shampoo, I never saw it again because in the Dominican Republic it is not very common or This fruit is well known in my country we call it I think that «Jaca: to me personally and especially when the fruit is well ripe, I love its smell and it is not related to onion or excrement, I respect the opinions but I think that opinions are always influenced by who presents them.
I enjoy its smell and its taste is usually like strawberry chiclet and it tastes like banana. Of what the fruit for its smell and size and flavor creates controversies, that is the only truth with which I agree.
I love this fruit and I delight in eating them, many beces when I try to be outside the house in the open air to look at the sky and praise my God for coming up with creating this fruit so good that many beces when eating it cause me great laughter and happiness.
Blessed be my God for this fruit that, together with pineapple, passion fruit and soursop have been my favorites since I was a child.
Thank you.
What happens is that the Jaca is not the same as the Durián although they come from the same class. Jaca, on the other hand, is sweet and smells good. It seems to me that many confuse these two fruits and that is why they say that it tastes good when what they have actually tasted is not Durian but another species.