Sop Duren, or Durian Soup, is taking over eastern Java. In the week I spent there, I saw Sop Duren everywhere, from tiny fruit push carts to large corporate establishments. There are chains of Sop Durian restaurants. It seemed like you could sit down and have a cold bowl of durian soup on almost every street corner. […]
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Check out the Indonesian Durian Gallery
Four Interspecies Hybrids of Durian | Banyuwangi, Java
Fairy tales are full of inter-species hybrids. Centaurs, sphinxes, mermaids, griffins – how many Harry Potter plots depend on these unlikely anatomical mix and matches? Real-life hybrids sound like just as much fantastical fun. Their names are slangy portmanteaus that give just enough of description to push our imaginations into action. Zebroid. Liger. Aprium. Pluot. […]
Bali Durian Variety: Sibadak at Luwus Horticultural Research Center | Luwus, Bali
Rob and I first visited the Luwus Horticultural Research Station back in 2012, on our first trip to Bali. It was here that we first tasted a Thai style durian, a wonderfully yellow Kani (Thai Chanee) that still haunts me as one of the best durians I’ve ever had. It was definitely the best durian I’d […]
Where To Go For Durian Abundance in Bali | Luwus, Bali
Luwus is unmistakable as you zip northwards on your normal tourism activities around Bali. Suddenly you’ll pass a durian stall and feel your adrenaline start pumping. But don’t slam on the breaks – soon you’ll see another durian stall, and another, and another, and another, and then you’re in Luwus and there are durians freaking […]
Rainbow Durian At Banyuwangi Fruit Festival | Banyuwangi, Java
Banyuwangi is drawing the attention of durian hunters with strange, striped and beautiful red-fleshed durians. The Fruit Festival the last weekend of March drew durian hunters from all over Indonesia, as well as a durian fanatic from Hungary and us, all hoping to snag something truly beautiful and delicious. Banyuwangi is both a city and […]
Durio Testudinarum
Rob and I were lucky to find Durio testudinarum twice in Borneo, as it is one of the rarest edible durian species. Many people don’t consider it edible because of the strong, musky odor it has when ripe. Yet the flavor is sweet and juicy, a contrast to the usually heavy durian. That’s reason enough […]
Durian Kura Kura Found
Cauliflory is a botanical term that refers to plants that flower and fruit from the trunk, woody structures, and roots rather than from new growth. This seems bizarre, but there are actually quite a number of edible fruits that grow this way. Most of them are just as exotic as the concept seems to indicate, […]
Red Jungle Durian (D. Dulcis) with the Ibans | Kalimantan
Durio dulcis is one of the rarest durian species. With it’s bright red shell, it’s the sweetest of the durians (as suggested by it’s Latin name) but isn’t cultivated and is only found in the highland jungles of interior Borneo, where it is becoming increasingly more scarce due to illegal logging. It’s even listed on […]
Kalimantan: Finding Durian in Borneo’s Wild Wild West
Very few people visit Kalimantan, the forgotten Indonesian side of Borneo which actually comprises nearly two-thirds of the island. Huge and sparsely populated, with the largest tracksof virgin rainforest left on the island, Kalimantan is still relativelyunexplored, which means there’s very little information about where to go andwhat to see (the best reference is Lazlo’s […]
Bali Wholesale Market
If you want cheap fruit in Bali, you have to go to the market early. And by early I mean really early, way before the sun has risen. Rob and I found this out from Bege, the owner of a local fruit and vegetable warung that we’ve been frequenting for his massive, beagle-sized papayas from […]
Bali Durian Hunt Commences
It’s the end of durian season here on Bali, and the durian pickings are getting slim. Balinese who don’t care for durian tell us that durian season is over, although those in the know tell us its still a good time for the fruit. Our first stop was Ubud Market, a cluttered labyrinth of shops […]
The Stinkiest Fruit: Wani
Richard Sterling wrote that durian smells like “pig-shit, turpentine, and onions, garnished with a gym sock.” Others who share his opinion have added blue cheese, rotting meat, public toilets, and dog farts to the list of interesting odorific comparisons. I actually quite like the odor of durian. To me it smells like… durian, which equals […]
