One of our ‘fans’…we like to call you all fans because it makes
us feel more special…commented on one of my recent blog posts. They
didn’t comment on it in a negative way. In fact, the post actually
captured their attention and interest. But, they did point out an error
of mine. That’s right; I’m not as perfect as you may all think ;)
The error came in the form of a fruit that I spotted and tasted in
Borneo. There’s me thinking that I’d tried one fruit when in fact, as
it turns out, I actually tried another.
So, that durian fruit I went on and on about – the horrible fruit
with the smell and taste I really hated and that regrettably stayed with
me for a few hours – wasn’t actually a durian fruit. I thought it
was! It certainly looked like one on the outside but apparently the
fleshy fruit on the inside actually proved it to be a cempedak. “A
what?” I hear you say. A cempedak. I’d never heard of it either but
when I looked it up sure enough it is actually a fruit. So, I’m now
going to give you a little education on what the cempedak is.
Concentrate now.
The cempedak (pronounced chem-pe-dak) is a sausage-shaped fruit that
ranges from 22 to 50cm in length and 10-17 cm across. It is smaller
than the jack fruit and is actually seen as an uglier version. It is
green in colour but turns slightly yellow as it ripens.
The fruit has a thin, leathery skin which is patterned with hexaons
and either flat or raised protuberances. Below the skin is a husk which
is filled with a bright yellow, orange or green edible pulp which
covers large brown seeds. The flesh is soft, sweet and has a strong
aroma – so you can see why I thought it was a durian fruit. It also has
a hint of durian flavour so, in my defence, you can see why I got the
two confused.
The cempedak is also known as a chempedak or, more scientifically,
artocarpus champeden. It is native to southeast Asia, occurring from
Indonesia and the Malay Peninsula to the island of New Guinea. It is a
very popular fruit in these native areas and there are many varieties,
although few are named.
The photo I took is not of a durian. It is a cempedak.
A durian looks like this:
 |
| Courtesy of wiangya / freedigitalphotos.net |
So there we have it. A little lesson in durians and cempedaks.
Never will you be able to get confused again. This also means that I’ve
never actually tried a durian. I have in fact tried a cempedak. This
is bad because I’ve always wanted to try durian and now that I know I
haven’t I will make it my mission to find one. I didn’t like cempedak
at all so if durian tastes similar, which I think it does, I will have
to go through another episode of trying a horrible fruit. But I’m
willing to do it for my own piece of mind.
If anybody knows where I can get durian fruit in England let me know
for I will be there like a shot. I think I need to hit all the Asian
stores in London to see if I can find one. Starting now…
Peace, love and cempedak (not durian) pizza.
What On Earth
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