Mine would have to be passionfruit (right now anyway - I've REALLY enjoyed my passionfruit today)!!

apart from the obvious, it has to be rockmelon. but not just any old rockmelon!! i'll spend hours hunting my prey - watching, feeling, lifting, but most importantly smelling these spherical beasts. i've noticed many a strange look from other customers, one even quizzed me as to what i was doing and why, then proceeded to ask me to smell some rockies for her to buy. most found in ordinary shops are garbage, not even worthy of the title.
there is nothing like a perfectly ripe, sensually sweet muskacious rockmelon. strange really, considering up until around the age of 20 i absolutely detested them. hadn't tried a properly ripened one, that's all!



i think i need a hobby.........
 

I have many raw foods I love. I love persimmons too.

Frozen bananas and frozen mango made into a ice cream is nice.

I just love raw food.

I want to try a durian soon.

RawAussie
 

Whats with durians, they sound like something mystical. What do they actually taste like? I cant get 2 any asian grocery stores, i live in the country    

Carrotgurl,

Checkout this website that has heaps of info and pics on durians.
It is http://www.durianpalace.com

Here is what they say what a durian tastes like........

Imagine the best, most delicious, and sensuous banana pudding you can imagine, add just a touch of butterscotch, vanilla, peach, pineapple, strawberry, and almond  flavors, and a surprising twist of — garlic??!! Like many of life’s greatest experiences, eating durian cannot be adequately described with words. Durian has a characteristic delicious flavor, creamy texture, and tantalizing fragrance that is just... durian! — the king of fruits, Nature’s most magnificent fruit gift.  

After reading what this website says about durians I think I will buy one tomorrow.

RawAussie
 

Well I bought a Durian at Coles today. I am not sure if it was a perfect ripe one but I tried it because I thought it seemed ripe to me.

They are easy to cut open, even though they are thorny they are not really hard shelled, they are leathery I suppose.

The yellow parts are the edible parts. Some of the yellow parts were more dark yellow than some other parts. I liked the darker yellow parts the best. They tasted and had the consistency of a custard with the skin on the custard. The less yellow parts I did not like that much. I suppose it sort of grows on you the taste. For me it tasted like a sweetish onion flavoured custard, with a hint of garlic. Yes onion flavoured custard it was like for me.

Has anyone here ever though it tasted a bit like onion flavoured custard?

I think if I could get one with more yellow custardy flesh would be better. So I suppose it would take me a while to know when one is ripe.

It has a very strong fruit type of smell, but the smell isn't too bad for me. It sure has a presence about the smell, but I like the smell in a strange sort of way. I think I like the smell because it is intense.

When I go to Queensland next year someone there will have to instruct me more about choosing and eating Durians.

They sure have a weird feel in my hand when I am eating it, it does not even feel like a piece of a fruit, which is another weird thing about eating Durians. Their custardy flesh is heavy in the hand and there is no real reference to remind me that it is a fruit that I am eating. It is sort of a surreal experience. If I blended the yellow custardy flesh in a blender I wonder how that would taste, so I suppose I should find different ways of preparing and eating them.

So that has been my experience so far and I am sure it will not be the last.

RawAussie
 
 

There's a video on selecting and opening a frozen durian on the 'free stuff' page of our website (you can access it from the main page of Raw Pleasure). We usually look for a durian where some of the segments are starting to crack open at the bottom. That's usually a sign that they are nice and ripe. Sometime we get an unripe on, and it has segments that are quite hard, and don't taste very good. We're getting more selective now and sometimes won't buy any if we don't find a nice ripe one.

We've only bought frozen durian in Brisbane; we have yt to find a fresh one. We like them best partially frozen, as the frozen ones get a little soft when fully thawed.

Recipes... sometimes we make durian ice-cream by blending durian with an equal part of coconut cream, or simply whip it up into a 'pudding' for dessert. We've also seen durian mini cheesecakes. They did a base of nut/date, topped with durian, then fruit (which was then all frozen). They really looked like cheesecake!

Durian is so much fun! My personal favourite right now is baby sweet jackfruit though! Mmmmm.....

Cheers,
Sheryl

We find this totally strange!

Having feasted on durians gleefully many times and read even more times about them tasting like garlic?! I can't say that we've ever noticed... I have to say that as opposed to many people I actually prefer my durian frozen or at least semi frozen as I find that unless they are fresh off a tree that the unfrozen ones do tend to have a somewhat fermented taste. Other than that though I would completely agree with the sweet, rich with a hint of butterscotch comments and restate what I always do...

• Never decide if you like durian until you've tried at LEAST three times with a face that looks like you're at least *trying* to enjoy it!
  
• Once the taste has grabbed you and you start to become evangelical about it, spare your friends and family from emotional force feeding sessions where you insist how wonderful it is, only to have their faces contort like a rubber puppet on tasting your prized expensive delicacy. It's not fun for them. They won't get it the first time. You'll cringe as you realise that you could have really been *enjoying* that last morsel they scraped into the dogs bowl. Trust me on this! We learnt the hard way... repeatedly!

Piers "in the grip of durian fever" Duruz