Pawpaw Time

paphioboy · Sep 20, 2009

Aren't pawpaws the same as papayas..?

What's being described here (peaches and banana) definitely sounds like papaya (Carica papaya)... Anyway, papayas are much larger than pawpaw...

Durian ??? The fruit of the Sultans. Durian smells like an open sewer and tastes sweet as garlic candied in honey and pineapple. Durian is the strangest fruit I ever ate.

Nope, pawpaw is not at all like Durian. Westerners can love a pawpaw at first bite. The flavors are all familiar to anyone who has had peaches or pineapple or mango or carmel flan or bananna. Durian is another matter. It takes a strong stomach or a damaged sense of smell for a western pallet to learn to like Durian.

No insult intended to the Malaysian members of Slippertalk. I found Durian to be a bit too different for my pallet to accept. But I could see that if you were raised with it, you might really like it.

Leo, no offence taken..

Durian is definitely an acquired taste. The flesh is definitely less firm and creamier than pawpaw/papaya. But I have yet to fathom how it can be compared to a sewer..

Leo Schordje · Sep 20, 2009

paphioboy said:
Aren't pawpaws the same as papayas..? What's being described here (peaches and banana) definitely sounds like papaya (Carica papaya)... Anyway, papayas are much larger than pawpaw...

Leo, no offence taken.. Durian is definitely an acquired taste. The flesh is definitely less firm and creamier than pawpaw/papaya. But I have yet to fathom how it can be compared to a sewer..

The North American Native Pawpaw species name is Asimina triloba, it is not at all related to the papaya, Carica papaya. The native pawpaw, Asimina is more closely related to the custard apples, Annona, for example Annona × atemoya, the pineapple sweetsop 鳳梨釋迦 also the Ylang-ylang, Cananga.

I was in Johore the first time I tried Durian. It was a party, the Durian our hosts brought in was huge, it must have weight near 20 kilo. I could tell by the looks on our hosts and their local friends faces that they really loved Durian, and they were not at all surprised when we did not have quite the same reaction. They were glad we didn't want more. It was almost a feeding frenzy when they cracked that huge spiney fruit open. (polite, but a frenzy none the less). I knew it was a special treat by their reactions. It was a fun trip. Someday I want to return to Malaysia, truely a beautiful country.

NYEric · Sep 20, 2009

Making me hungry.

paphioboy · Sep 22, 2009

Oh... ok..

It was almost a feeding frenzy when they cracked that huge spiney fruit open. (polite, but a frenzy none the less). I knew it was a special treat by their reactions. It was a fun trip. Someday I want to return to Malaysia, truely a beautiful country.

Hahahaha... We Malaysian's have one national hobby.. eating!

The durian is not that rare or expensive, it just fruits seasonally, so when the season is in, everyone digs in!

Paphman910 · Sep 22, 2009

paphioboy said:
Oh... ok..

Hahahaha... We Malaysian's have one national hobby.. eating! The durian is not that rare or expensive, it just fruits seasonally, so when the season is in, everyone digs in!

Durian smell like old stinky socks! I heard in China that they ban people from bringing Durian on the train.

Paphman910