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Comment by 3131s | Hacker News Reader

I live in Cambodia where all of these fruits are available, and more. I like every fruit mentioned, except salak, and eat many of them every day.

This author comes off as a deeply uncultured American giving a generic impression of a drunken 3-5 day visit to SEA. There are so many errors in this article it's unreal.

Jackfruit does not have a "jagged sheath" (that's durian).

Dragon fruit is only mushy when it's badly bruised or overripe, and there are other varieties that are sweeter and richer than the white variety.

Durian does not "stink of death".

Salak are normally imported from Indonesia, as far as I know. Maybe the author is thinking of salacca wallichiana, which is related but tastes very different?

Describing a langsat as a "demure cousin" of the lychee is a totally meaningless way of saying that they belong to the same order of plants.

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Author is probably being unnecessarily hyperbolic in order to make the piece interesting.

To me, dragon fruit flesh is similar to that of Asian pears, firm, crisp, sweet and refreshing. The tiny black seeds are akin to strawberry seeds in that they add to the texture but are otherwise unnoticeable.

I had my first taste of a dragon fruit a couple of years ago on a Cathay Pacific flight (amazing inflight meals btw) and was like where have you been my whole life. I knew I had to get some when I returned to the US. I quickly learned that most grocery stores in US do carry them... for about $6 per lb. They’re not cheap treats.

Here they are $0.75 a kilo at the moment, sorry!

> Durian does not "stink of death".

It does stink to some (many?) people, much the same way some people think that cilantro tastes like soap. Which is why you see "no durian" stickers in public places throughout Asia.

It does smell, but by far not as repulsive as the smell of actual death (rotting meat).

It's called Hyperbole and it's generally accepted in everyday speech and travel writing. Also, don't assume that you know how it smells to other people. You don't.

It is a hyperbole; that's exactly the point that 3131s is making. It is a (quite extreme) exaggeration, and therefor factually not correct.

I might indeed make some assumptions about smell. Though having smelled both durian and rotting carcasses on multiple occasions, I find it unlikely that there are people that would find durian as repulsive as rotting meat. The smell of death literally turns your stomach (and makes you vomit in extreme cases). I've never heard someone throwing up from the smell of durian.

> It is a hyperbole; that's exactly the point that 3131s is making. It is a (quite extreme) exaggeration, and therefor factually not correct.

We all know when we see hyperbole, but we learned even less from the terce "refutal". That was my point, as well as "nitpicking".

> Jackfruit does not have a "jagged sheath" (that's durian).

Durian's spikes are pointier, but you can call both of them jagged.

Hannah Beech has been an SEA bureau chief at the NYT and, before that, Time Magazine for something like a decade, and wrote for Time Asia for years prior to that. I don't think "deeply uncultured American" helped your argument, and note that most of the fruit-related points you made here were challenged downthread.

I wasn't wrong about anything. Durian does not smell like death, even to people that don't like it. I know people can perceive tastes differently.

My tone was too flippant because I found the article's tone annoying and misleading. I get it, hyperbole, but when most of the people reading it have no familiarity with these fruits it's going to put them off trying.

I wouldn't want to litigate durian, as I am too chicken to try it. I have general sympathy for fruit enthusiasts and am inclined to believe you about their virtues. Good on you for acknowledging the hyperbole; I just thought the background would help.

"Durian does not stink of death"

Sounds like you're the one spreading lies. Durian is without a doubt, the smelliest, nastiest fruit I have ever had the displeasure of ever smelling or eating in my life. My wife is from SEA and literally laughed out loud when I showed her your post. Check yourself before you try to check others.

It smells like death though? Really?

I'm sure there are differences in how people perceive durian, among other foods. Most Cambodians don't have a particular aversion to durian though and it's definitely popular at the market, but sometimes you see it prohibited in touristy guesthouses and restaurants.

Yes, exactly ! I remember traveling through Asia and seeing a “no durians” sign posted near the metro entrance. I forget the country, but it was probably Singapore or HK.

> Durian does not "stink of death".

I once went to a durian place in Malaysia. As we approached (they hadn't told me where we were going, it was a surprise), my first thought from the smell was that perhaps there was an animal dead off the side of the road.

Tasty though.

YMMV, but I find that the taste of salak varies wildly. Sometimes they're mealy, dry, astringent and generally unpleasant. Sometimes they're crisp and tart like a tropical apple, and thoroughly delicious.

They are imported here, so that must be it. I have tried them many times, because the skin is so cool, but yeah they were always so dry and never tart.

Dragon fruit is pitaya, native to Mexico and central America https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pitaya

I don't know when the branding changed but I'm willing to bet some form of biopiracy was involved in the trade.

It puzzles me how the smell of durian, which I find very aromatic, can be disgusting to some people.

Also dragon fruit is a 'bland mush'? I've must have been eating the wrong fruit. There's also a red dragon fruit which is a little tastier.

Well, when nations that grow durian natively have signs banning durian from public transport and hotels, it's probably a good indication that enough of a majority finds the smell unpalatable.

(I've tried durian in Malaysia, Singapore, and Thailand to try to like them. I have failed. There is just no divorcing the taste from the stench.)

My parents love durian, but even they have rules against eating it inside. So those signs aren’t related to it being “unpalatable”. It’s just that the smell is so strong that it lingers around like strong perfume. For example, I love curry but don’t cook it at home because the essential oils released makes my home smell for days.

> Well, when nations that grow durian natively have signs banning durian from public transport and hotels, it's probably a good indication that enough of a majority finds the smell unpalatable.

What "majority" do you speak of?

The "majority" of locals in Singapore, at least, do not think the smell is unpalatable.

Locals just recognize that it is a strong, potent smell, that is difficult to get rid of, that lingers for ages, that is detectable even at trace concentrations. So, practically, everyone understands that durians shouldn't be in public transport or hotels.

It isn't necessary that the majority of the population hates it. Just a sizeable portion like 20% is enough.

Also the puzzling thing is the stark disparity of the perception of the smell between different people. That doesn't happen to, say, seeing. This is akin to having a dress where half the people says it's black while the rest say it's white.

What? Did you forget about the dress? Blue or gold? That totally has happened with seeing.

And a purple one which has a sweeter and earthier taste, which is my favorite.

There are also many varieties of passion fruit, some of which are very sweet. One time I had a batch of an heirloom variety of yellow passion fruit from a small farm in the provinces and it really was unlike anything I've ever had since.

Passiflora fruits are very varied, there may be a hundred varieties, with all sorts of different flavours. There's even one that stinks of garlic!

It's really fascinating how different is human reaction to durian smell and taste.

Durian smell is more than disgusting to me - but sometimes I do enjoy eating it. Often by holding my breath to avoid inhaling it.

I think I have not had good dragon fruit yet. That's the trouble with trying new fruit you see in the market - you never know if it is a good representative.

Try yellow dragon fruit. It is much better than red or white and it is a different species. Red/white taste grassy with a nice texture, but yellow has a sweet tropical flavor.

For one Durian is poisonous in certain quantities that vary from person to person. That smell is a warning.

never in my life i had mushy dragon fruit and ate it multiple times a week when lived in Asia for years, i like it cooled from fridge

I've never understood what's even stinky about durian, it just has its own odor like any other fruit, nothing deserving special treatment media give it, must be some durian wholesalers conspiracy trying to make it more interesting than it actually is

For hundreds of years people have been describing it as smelling like various unpleasant things, like rotten onions, rotten meat, pig feces, socks, etc.

In some countries where the fruit grows you aren't allowed to eat it in public in enclosed spaces, such as public transportation.

Some people hate the smell of roses. My wife can't stand the smell of honeysuckles but to me its one of the most pleasant smells in the world. Perhaps Durian smells good to some people. Its obviously got a controversial fragrance that many people find unpleasant. Its hardly a modern day media conspiracy.

> i like it cooled from fridge

Me too, more so than for other fruits. Maybe that has to do with all the water content.

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