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Total Members Voted: 17
Fruitlovers you sure have some insight and I am sure your words of wisdom will be warmly embraced by some of the former doubters.
The opinion of westerners on durian is very similar to easterners who come to America taste a "red delicious" apple and say it tastes about as flavoruful as a mealy potato, and then they don't understand why apple is the American's favorite fruit? If you lived many years in Thailand and still didn't like durian then i would take your opinion more seriously. If you've only tasted frozen durian or durians shipped all the way from Thailand then don't think you've really tasted durian. FYI shipped durian is treated with an anti ripening agent and is picked almost totally green = flavorless and not of good texture.
Quote from: fruitlovers on April 28, 2012, 09:43:08 PMThe opinion of westerners on durian is very similar to easterners who come to America taste a "red delicious" apple and say it tastes about as flavoruful as a mealy potato, and then they don't understand why apple is the American's favorite fruit? If you lived many years in Thailand and still didn't like durian then i would take your opinion more seriously. If you've only tasted frozen durian or durians shipped all the way from Thailand then don't think you've really tasted durian. FYI shipped durian is treated with an anti ripening agent and is picked almost totally green = flavorless and not of good texture.I've had fresh durian in Singapore, Malaysia, PR(had a few different varieties there), and FL(the FL one was not shipped frozen from Thailand but was brought back fresh with a fruit permit). I have also had frozen Thai durian on a few occasions in FL and GA and I still think its not that good. Taste it totally subjective so I don't think anyone can be wrong for not liking or liking a certain fruit more than others. I would much rather eat a good Fuji or Gala apple than a durian any day. I would probably rather eat a barbados cherry, purple mombin, or Indian jujube over most other tropical fruits and while others may not agree with me I am not going to tell that they're wrong for thinking otherwise.
I was not suggesting that people are wrong for not liking durian but rather it should not be dismissed with disdain.Tastes vary alot and even as you grow older your opinions and 'likes' can change.
murahilin, I never said anyone was wrong for not liking durian. That ofcourse would be a dumb thing to say. What i am saying is that most westerners have never been exposed to good quality durian fruits. There are Thai people that don't like durians, so ofcourse that is possible, fruit likes/dislikes are very individual. But how can a person say they don't like a certain fruit only based on stories of how bad they smell? Also please don't judge a fruit on frozen fruits you've had, or fruits shipped from thousands of miles away. It's like the person in the east that doesn't like peaches, but all they've ever had is canned peaches. They will also probably never get to taste a perfectly tree ripened peach and enjoy it's luscious taste. All i'm saying is reserve judgement. When you're with a durian lover and he tells you this is a top notch perfectly tree ripened durian fruit, and then you taste it and still don't like it, then OK you've had the real article and still don't like it.
Yup I have been with durian lovers who loved the durian(s) that we had on different occasions and I was still not impressed. So I do think I have had the real article and I don't like it. That being said. I think the tree and fruit are very interesting and I would grow every Durio species if I could.
There is a large asian community but they are not the growers of durians and other tropical fruits most of the time.Darwin is a similar latitude to Bangkok and has a seasonal monsoon climate and the town gets about 1500mm/yr.Where I am sitting right now gets about 2600mm/yr and ther is rainforest behind my place.There is no doubt the asian and multicultural flavour has influenced foods and fruits grown.
And you've really had all the durian species, like Durio oxyleanus, graveolens, kutajensis, and don't like any of them? Or just zibethinus?
I think the original species this poll was based on was Zibethinus and it is the only Durio species I've tried. I am more than willing to try the other species and I will definitely keep an open mind to them but that is a topic for another poll.
I think durio graveolans x zinethinus and D.macrantha are the only ones besides zibethinus that warrant more than a sideways glance.There are around 30 zibethinus varieties around here and I have 5 adolescent trees of different types.