Posted on 09/15/2022 7:10:20 PM PDT by nickcarraway
It’s one of the richest, fattiest fruits and treated as a delicacy across Southeast Asia. It’s also known for its pungent reputation, which once led to the evacuation of an Australian university campus. It’s even banned from being carried on subways, aboard airplanes and in certain hotels overseas.
Durian, with its bright yellow meaty interior, is a fruit you either love or hate — and it’s coming to a Bay Area Costco near you in pint-sized ice cream form this October, dreamed up by the two sisters behind San Jose-based Mavens Creamery.
“Some things just can’t be explained,” said Christine Nguyen, co-owner of Mavens Creamery. “I get it. It’s off-putting. It’s a very strong smell. But, everyone in our family enjoys it.”
People, Christine said durian may smell like leaking gas or rotten eggs. But for her family, durian was a fruit they grew up eating after dinner as a dessert, or whenever their mom would see the oblong, spiky fruit at the grocery store.
Growing up in a Vietnamese family, Gwen Nguyen, who is Christine’s sister and the founder of Mavens Creamery, said durian was simply a part of their childhood growing up in the Bay Area, and it evokes positive food memories.
“There are just certain ingredients that are introduced being Vietnamese. Fish sauce, that’s in our DNA. So durian fruit, I just have always known for it to be a part of a dessert or a fruit after we would have a meal,”
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
Durian ice cream has been in SF Bay Area Chinese markets for probably 80 years. These guys just woke up and smelled the roses?
Had it in China.
Stinks like hell but is a very delicious soft melon.
The restaurant would only serve us out doors..
Wonder how Costco will supply itself when California’s trucks are no longer there to haul the products.
What a GREAT entrepreneurial success story. I read the entire article and those two young sisters have worked REALLY hard to build their business. I haven’t seen their products at Safeway yet — I’ll be on the look-out for them. Thanks for posting this!
Hard working entrepreneurial sisters making a go of it the mass market. Deals with Safeway and Costco! More power to them. What a great success story.
Actually, they smelled the durian. 🤪😩 I have been able to eat a little of it, but it’s not easy to get past the smell. It will gag a maggot. 🤮👎
Actually, durian smells just like poop.
One time in Phnom Penh, these two Bulgarian guys bought a durian at the market, and not knowing what the thing was or what to do with it, they stuck it a microwave. Of course it exploded. You could smell it two blocks away. No kidding. I was staying next door to them at the time :(
It’s a popular ice cream flavor over there. I always had to double check I got my fave coconut flavor ice cream when buying from street vendors in Thailand because the paper wrappers for the durian and coconut flavors were very similar, and the color of the ice cream the same stark white. Nope, never tried the durian flavor. I could never forget the smell of that exploded outhouse fruit.
Check the laws in Singapore about Durian. It is illegal in public places because of the odor— never in airports or aircraft.
Pungent is the not the word for the odor.
Durian is one of my favorites for pastries or ice cream.
I had no idea there were durian pastries. They BAKE something with durian in it? Do the poor wretched bakers wear gas masks? The stench of hot durian is cruel and unusual. (See my #8)
Not a smell you want to wake up to.😫😖😝
What does it do to one’s breath?
Good question! Let’s ask datura. He/she is brave enough to eat it. Not me. I’m a little chicken when it comes to durian.
Big deal. I have ordered durian slurpies for years here in Houston. I am slowing down drinking them not because of the smell (delicious) but because of the high sugar content
My wife’s and friend snuck some durian into a motel and after feasting through the remains in a hall trash container. They fell asleep to be awakened by the fire alarm. They rushed out in their pj’s and joined the crowd watching the fire department crew. Someone had called in a gas leak!
wife’s SISTER
ROFL! How funny! Raw durian smells more like poop to me, but also has that gas leak odor to it. Maybe it has to do with ripeness? And they got to act all innocent, lol. What a fun story.
Microwaved exploded durian smells like the stinkiest poop ever from two blocks away and becomes eye-wateringly unbearable the closer you get to the scene of the crime. At three blocks away, my friend and I thought we smelled a gas leak. Two blocks away, we thought a sewer had erupted. One block away, we thought someone planted a bomb in a sewer and there had been a massive poop explosion. Closer, and we entered the toxic poop cloud, never to be same again. (cue Twilight Zone music).
Does it read correctly, hopefully not...
“after feasting through the remains in a hall trash container” LOL
maybe you meant:
after feasting, threw the remains in a hall trash container
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.