Food

COOL CULINARY ADVENTURES WITH DURIAN NOW

“Rayong Fruit Festival,” Lindsay Gasik, of Year of the Durian.

by Lindsay Gasik, of Year of the Durian. Rayong Fruit Festival.

Thailand & Malaysia celebrate a fruit most people in the world have never even heard of, the durian. If you’re up for culinary adventure and intrigue, check out a few of their Durian Festivals.

Durian Fruit

Considered the "king of fruits", the durian is large and heavy, with a thorny husk, ranging in color from green to brown and their creamy flesh ranges from pale yellow to red, depending on the species.

Durian Fruit

They taste a bit like rich custard, flavored with sherry & almonds. They are used in both sweet and savory Southeast Asian dishes. Even their husks are used for smoking fish, meat and vegetables.

Durian Fruit

Durian are perhaps most notorious for their strong distinctive odour. Some love it, but most don’t, which is why most durian are not exported. While there are 30 recognized durian species, 9 of which produce edible fruit, Durio zibethinus is the only species available in the international market.

Durian Fruit

There are hundreds of durian cultivars. Thailand alone grows over 300 named varieties.

Year of the Durian, began as a year-long adventure for Lindsey & Rob, a durian-obsessed couple. They traveled around the world on a mission to sample durian in every country in which it grows.

Durian Fruit

In 2012, Lindsey threw a Durian Birthday Party, which has since snowballed into the Bao Sheng Durian Festival, a weeklong celebration for durian lovers looking for adventure, camaraderie, and more than 20 varieties of durians in Penang, Malaysia. Book now for 2017.

Durian Fruit

The festival is based on a hillside overlooking the durian orchards along the Straits of Malacca.

Durian Fruit

Lindsay and her partner Grant lead fascinating durian adventures. Check out the tour hosted by Master Seng and his son Zhi Vooi, durian sommeliers on their 4th-generation, organic durian farm set high in the hills.

Durian Fruit

Or check out Chanthaburi, considered Thailand’s durian capita and Rayong province, the 2nd largest durian producer. Both regions produce spectacular durian festivals.

Learn more about durian festivals and all things durian here.

Durian Fruit

Read more about Beautiful Adventures in Ideas & Images Inspired by Adventure and These Eco-Adventures Help to Save Our Planet.

And check out more beautiful things happening now in BN Arts/Design, Nature/Science, Food/Drink, Place/Time, Mind/Body, and Soul/Impact Daily Fix posts.

Durian Fruit

Want more stories like this? Sign up for our weekly BN Newsletter, Like us on Facebook. Follow us on Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, Tumblr. Join our BeautifulNow Community and connect with the most beautiful things happening in the world right now!

BeautifulNow App

Do you have amazing photos? Enter them in this week’s BN Photo Competition. We run new creative competitions every week! Now, it’s even easier to enter with the new BeautifulNow App!

Plus check out the rest of our App’s beautiful features. It’s free to download here.

The Durian Fruit Villa

IMAGE CREDITS:

Image: by Lindsay Gasik, of Year of the Durian. “Rayong Fruit Festival.” Rayong, Thailand.
Image: by Lindsay Gasik, of Year of the Durian. “Durian Fruit.”
Image: by Lindsay Gasik, of Year of the Durian. “Durian Fruit.”
Image: by Lindsay Gasik, of Year of the Durian. “Heaps of Durian.”
Image: by Lindsay Gasik, of Year of the Durian. “Durian Fruit.”
Image: by Lindsay Gasik, of Year of the Durian. “Durian Festival.”
Image: by Autan. “Durian in Durian Orchard.”
Image: by Lindsay Gasik, of Year of the Durian. “Tasting the World’s Most Expensive Durian Fruit.”
Image: by Lindsay Gasik, of Year of the Durian. “Rayong Fruit Festival.” Rayong, Thailand.
Image: by Lindsay Gasik, of Year of the Durian.“Saphan Khao Market.” Bangkok, Thailand.
Image: by Lindsay Gasik, of Year of the Durian. “Durian Fruit.”
Image: by BN App - Download now!
Image: by Lindsay Gasik, of Year of the Durian. “The Durian Fruit Villa,” at The Ban Phasawan Resort. Kanchanaburi, Thailand.