Thai Fruit - The smelly Durian
Like smelly socks overlaid with vomit is only one description
Jun 21, 2007
The descriptions of the smell given to Thailand's popular fruit, the Durian, range from stale vomit ovelaid with rotting garbage, to smelly socks with turpentine dressing, yet despite this drawback, it has always been one of Asia's most popular fruits. And not only with locals. Many visitors from Europe, N. American and Australia have expressed their appreciation of this luscious gift from the orchards of Thailand and Malaysia.
Genetic engineering of the seasonal Durian (April to June) to remove the stink would be a winner one would think, yet many people insist that the revolting smell is an integral part of the pleasure they derive from eating the fruit. Take the awful smell away and they feel they are being deprived of the element that is Durian, the smell. Its devotees will assure you that the smell is an intrinsic part of the fruit, the stronger the better, and that this is a much discussed factor during the communal eating of the fruit.
An odourless Durian however, would be good news for the exporters of the yellow-green spikey fruit with an image problem, not to mention the growers and market-sellers. It is forbidden inside all hotels apart from those at the bottom end of the scale, forbidden on all airlines and all trains in S.E. Asia. You can't sneak it past the doorman at any 5* or 4* hotel as it is one item that gives itself away. Even taxis refuse a passenger carrying one as the resultant bad smell in the cab can mean the loss of business for a day or more. It is also banned from Singapore's underground trains.
Now word is out that a Thai Government scientist, Mr. Songpol Somsri, has finally managed to created a virtually odourless variety, a breakthrough that came after nearly 20 years of tests with different varieties. It is hoped that soon, lovers of the fruit - but not the smell - will be able to indulge in eating Durian, and hotels and restaurants will once again start to serve this delicious fruit to their guests.
It is expected that this new variety of Durian, named Chantaburi No.1 after the scientist’s home Province, will gain new devotees in Europe, Australia and the USA and there are also hopes that Thailand will be exporting the fruit worldwide, within the next few years. Everyone in Thailand is very optimistic about this odourless, but luscious fruit, and now that it can be carried in a basket without offending the tender noses of those who can't abide the smell, we can all enjoy the taste of the very first non-smelly durian.
