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 […]
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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 […]
Suprise in Monkey Forest
When Lindsay and I arrived in Ubud, Bali our first order of business was finding her Ashtanga yoga school. To do so we had to pass through the magical Monkey Forest, one of the city’s primary attractions. As is usual, we were traveling with a fruit supply. I was carrying a grocery bag full of […]
Back to Medan: A Night at Ucok Durian
There’s one place to go for durian in Medan – to Ucok Durian, located on Iskandar Muda. Actually, there is durian all over the city, but Ucok’s is by far the most popular. “I really think the durian is better here,” said Lydia Laluyan, who visits the stand about 3 times a week with her […]
Bukit Lawang: How Can I get Your Money?
The palm oil man we met at Ucok’s durian stand suggested that durian was in season in Bukit Lawang. I read on the tourist map that it is near the Leuser Gunung National Park, and is the place to go to see orangutans and do some jungle trekking. Orangutans AND durian? Yes please! Bukit Lawang […]
Medan, Indonesia: Down the Rabbit Hole We Go!
Kicking off our glorious Year of the Durian in Indonesia has been perfect. Not in the sense that it is has been paradisaical, but rather that, like our beloved durian, the experience has been both rough and sweet. When I walked out of the Medan airport I missed Kuala Lumpur immediately. Although it is […]
