Stinkiest Fruit - The Durian

[Kazimiera]

Durians Smell Awful — But the Taste Is Heavenly

"To eat it seems to be the sacrifice of self-respect," wrote 19th-century American journalist Bayard Taylor. French naturalist Henri Mouhot was a bit less delicate: "On first tasting it I thought it like the flesh of some animal in a state of putrefaction."

Hate them or — as millions already do — love them, for many durians are nothing less than "hell on the outside and heaven on the inside." That Southeast Asian saying in fact sums up the regard in which Durio zibethinus is held. For many in the region, the spiny, football-size fruit with the divinely custardy, yet potently odoriferous, flesh is as much a cultural icon as it is a treasured, eagerly anticipated food.

Growing on trees in moist, tropical climates throughout Southeast Asia, durians have a limited season and an extremely short shelf life. The trees themselves, sometimes as tall as 130 feet, are pollinated by bats. Three to four months later, the fruit, each weighing several pounds, plummets down, already reeking with its characteristic aroma. Because of the short duration of tasty ripeness, durians are expensive, and purchasing one is a solemn, smelly ritual: only by odor can one determine whether a durian is truly ripe. Not surprisingly for so valued a fruit, all parts of the durian tree are used in folk medicine. The flesh itself is regarded as an aphrodisiac.

Today, even with websites devoted to durians and improved shipping around the world, the fruit's unexpurgated flavor and smell still remain a unique experience of the East.

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[Farah]

Ooh I remember a few friends who travelled to Malaysia telling me about this fruit, that it's absolutely repulsive but a delicacy at the same time. what is its aroma supposed to be like? it doesn't look appealing, tbh. :icon_neutral:

[Kazimiera]

I found a couple opinions from people who have smelled this before:


It smells sort of like a combination of rotten meat, sour milk, old gym shoes and maybe a touch of dog do. Only more acidic, I think there's a hint of morning-after and vomit in there too.

It's so bad it's forbidden on public transport. Sometimes foreigners in Malaysia get offended at what they think is discrimination against an ethnic group because of the signs saying "No Durians permitted on trains."


it also smells like dirty gym clothes you leave in a bag and in your trunk for about a week during the summer. try smelling that and there you have it. oh, it also smells like my armband for my ipod after a week of hot and sweaty workout.


Rotting onions...

Take an onion, wrap in a plastic bag and let it sit out until it's soft and mushy.

Open the bag and take a whiff... Now scoop out a little and give it a try.

Durian smells and taste like rotting onions.


Onions, dirty socks, garbage, dead animals, dead fish, gasoline all mixed together. It's awful.


It smells like rotting flesh, or rancid meat.

[asingh]

Yes, I remember this in Singapore. The whole country stinks of it. Took me a while to figure it you.

[Kazimiera]

Yes, I remember this in Singapore. The whole country stinks of it. Took me a while to figure it you.

But what does it really smell like? I've read all these descriptions but I cannot being to imagine what it is really like. Did you eat of it?

[asingh]

But what does it really smell like? I've read all these descriptions but I cannot being to imagine what it is really like. Did you eat of it?

I did not eat it. But it took me a while to identify the constant smell, and its source. It is pungent, kind of like a lemon gone bad. Not the nice base fruity smell. But a pungent "stuck in your nose" smell.