nice pics.

3,9999 baht for 1 durian?!! is it made of gold??

...i meant 3,999

$133 for one kanyaow/ganyaow durian is not out of the ordinary. I mentioned that the price is actually down.

why so expensive?? is this cultivar so hard to grow/get to fruit?? is the fruit harvested and blessed by the royals??

It is the most sought after durian and if grown in a particular province, prized even higher and will cost even more. High demand high price. Just like anything else. I'm sure marketing and hype play a big part.

I'm far from a taste expert when it comes to durian. I'm slowly coming on board. I could not tell one from another. There are definitely differences in flavor, looks, and textures. It was better than most I got to try over there. There were others that tasted pretty darn good as well...at least to me.

Eating durian is a serious business for some people and they don't let price get in the way.

Ohiojay, were they very different from Thai Mornthongs?

From what the more experienced fanatics told me...yes. My palate is still adjusting and would not be able to tell the more subtle differences. The mongtong is the most popular and affordable. A piece I tried at the festival was actually quite good. I believe the others actually agreed with me more. Maybe it is a case of a more expensive taste??! There are folks who will only eat a certain variety...while my buddy Warren would never turn down any durian put in front of him!!

Were all of the ones you tasted yellow fleshed, or did you get a white or red fleshed one?

What was the festival you went to? Are there tours to go to these kinds of fruit festivals, or did you go on your own?

Are you able to get fresh pawpaws where you are, too?

How is the flavor of durian? I've seen durian Popsicles and ice-cream, as well as whole frozen durian at the local Asian market but have always been to scared to try it dueto the supposed horrid smell and flavor.. That guy on the food network couldn't even swallow fresh durian, and he eats some nasty stuff on his tv show

I think Zimmern was faking it. I saw him cut an ear off a roasted piglet, turn it around to show the hair and wax still in it, and pop it into his mouth, and he couldn't eat a delicious durian?

It tastes like a sweet creamy savory vanilla custard. Only a little piney smell, like paint drying. If it has other smells, I don't notice it.

I dont think so, he has tried more times afterwards and still can not eat it. He may be sampling a different variety, there are several of durian

Hi mullenium - a whole durian can be a lot of fruit for a first timer. Check the freezer section for small packages of durian flesh and pits - also from Thailand. I like durian chilled on a warm day. And you should too :)
Tom

mullenium, it has a creamy/custardy texture, its sweetness combines with the aroma of rotting onions and fish. It's the combination of flavors and aromas that truly surprises the uninitiated.

My other durian post showed one of the festivals we attended. During the May/June time frame, Thailand has fruit festivals going on everywhere all the time. I have not tried the red fleshed ones.

For me...there is a small window of ripeness opportunity. A little too soon, the taste is a bit bland like any other fruit eaten before it is fully ripe. Go a bit further than full ripeness, then you start getting into the stronger smells and much stronger flavors...and the texture and consistency gets away from me as well. Warren(Fruitguy), should chime in on this post since he is much more durian saavy than I. He is our Durian Boy! Warren also tasted other durian treats such as the popsicles and ice cream.

I am told that frozen durian holds it's texture and flavor very well. I still have trouble with this being leary of fruit that has been frozen...usually bad.

I've only experienced the bad smell a few times...one being in a market where durian was being cut up all day and the remains tossed aside to ferment all day in the hot sun. The other when my boy Warren unintentionally scooted a baggie filled with a durian section underneath the middle seats of our SUV!! Took us 2-3 days to discover it. Driving everyone nuts because we couldn't figure out where the smell was coming from. But even then, it wasn't the horrible smell people attribute to the fruit, it was just a very strong odor in the air. It was good for a laugh from all of us. And just between us...as much as Warren loves durian...if no one was looking, I think he would have eaten it!!!!! LMAO!! Try to deny it bud!!

HD...the pawpaw was named Ohio's native state fruit. Yet, you will never find any in the markets or stores. There is so much variability among seedling trees and there just isn't that many people with large plantings of the named varieties. You cannot even find a plant to purchase in local nurseries!! I have two grafted ones. Both started blooming last year but no fruit developed. This year it looks like some may...so far at least. I have yet to taste the fruit of a named cultivar. Better be good!

he has tried more times afterwards and still can not eat it.

His loss, more for us. Maybe there is a genetic trait that makes some people like it and some hate it, like the ability to taste PTC. For instance, don't know if it's related or not, but if I drive past a skunk that has been run over, I don't mind that smell either. I would not want to be sprayed, of course, but the smell is not bad. Am I the only one?

Ohiojay, thanks for your advice. Good luck with your pawpaws, hope you get some good ones! There is a PawPaw Festival in Albany Ohio, have you ever been?

I must admit, Jay is mostly correct. I have never met a durian that I wouldn't try, with the one exception being the bag that was left in the car for several days. I actually did that on purpose because I LOVE the smell of ripe durian! ;-)

Speaking of smell, the frozen 'Monthong' you can buy in Asian food stores has only a faint smell of a fresh durian, but you can get the idea. The texture remains fairly close and the flavor is pretty close as well. I think of durian as an acquired taste. I recall the first time I tried it (frozen) and I thought to myself, "what is all the fuss about?". Its sort of a mushy blob of flesh, custardy with onion overtones perhaps, but I was not at all impressed. (In my opinion it is the texture that turns off most Westerners as we don't really have any other fruit that is similiar in this regard.) The next time I tried it (still frozen), it was better, and the aroma was starting to grow on me. By the time I reached Thailand, I was hooked, a serious durianophile! You have to experience it to believe it. Now I can detect the faintest smell in the air, and I am drawn to it. There is a saying in Malaysia (I believe), that "when the durians come down, the sarongs go up", which is a reference to the aphrodisiac qualities attributed to the fruit. I recall being in a department store once with a few pieces of durian in a sealed plastic bag, and I couldn't help but notice several girls walking by and smiling. I was starting to feel pretty good about myself until I realized that they could smell the durian! lol

It was really nice to get my celebrity status 15 mintues of fame in Thailand as every time this "farang" would eat durian, I seemed to draw a crowd of locals staring at me. I'm not sure if they were waiting to see if I would like it or to see if I would get sick. Either way, I rarely left a piece behind.

I think the province where the expensive "Kanyeow' durian was grown was Nonthaburi. The soil there was said to impart the perfect taste. I was too cheap to spend $100+ for a fruit to find out. Maybe next time. As it stands, just like everywhere else the population is growing there and land (and a flood as I recall) have reduced the growing area in that province, making the fruit even more expensive.

I really can't believe that the guy can stomach all the stuff he eats but can get down some durian. It may be that he just doesn't like it, but I suspect that he might be just trying to add to the mystique of the fruit.

Pepperot - chilled durian and sticky rice! To die for!

Fruit Guy, who I guess is Warren, thanks for the info! I agree that Zimmern must be trying to add to the mystique, good way to put it. I also wondered what all the fuss was about when I tried it. Maybe it's the aphrodisiac effect. Do you notice this is a real effect?

So did you just get on a plane and go to Thailand, and walk around sniffing for durian? Or did you go with other more experienced travelers or a fruit tasting tour of some kind? Do many Thai speak English? Is there a good region to start with, if you go on your own?

happyday, no i did not notice any aphrodisiac effect, however you will find your internal temperature increase. Durian is known as a heating fruit. Fortunately you can lower your temp with mangosteen, which is a cooling fruit.

My first trip to Thailand was mostly on my own, thought I did meet up with a friend's wife who guided me around for three days in Rayong. My intention was to make it to the International Durian Festival in Chanthaburi, which I did, but it was towards the end of the festival when all of the good events (durian eating contest, beauty contest, vehicles decorated with fruit) were over by the time I got there.

Most people fly into Bangkok, and there are durian everywhere in season. Literally everywhere! In Bangkok, there are a lot of people that speak some English, enough to get you through any transaction. If they don't speak English, they will have a calculator so that you can negotiate a price (for anything, not just durian). You point at what you are interested in, they hand you a calculator with a price on it. You type in what price you want to pay and it goes back and forth until you have reached a deal. When you get to smaller towns, there are less people who speak English. Hotels and bus terminals usually have someone who can translate and/or give directions.

My second trip was with Jay and it was 100% better. Not only because Jay and his wife are such good company, and not only because of the fabulous hospitality shown to us by his wife's family, but moreso because Jay's mother-in-law is just as much of a fruit fanatic as we are. She took us to the most wonderful places, knew all about the different durian varieties (and other fruit as well), and it was the best trip I have ever been on. It definitely helps to have someone wherever you go that speaks the local language, but if they are knowledgeable about fruit as well...WOW!

A much lesser-known delicacy in Thailand was one we had to stop for Jay for....what was it called....rat on a stick? (I'll stick to durian, thank you!)