# Typhoon Durian **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 30, 2006, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/typhoon-durian/382312 "2006-11-30T13:00:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ratatoskK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ratatoskk/32/2987_2.png) [@ratatoskK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ratatoskK)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2006, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/typhoon-durian/382312/1 "2006-11-30T13:00:25Z")
My question is: Isn’t “durian” that famously smelly fruit that supposedly tastes wonderful but has an odor that makes you gag, and is prohibited on airplanes for that reason? Is the Phillipines being rained on by thousands of durians? From [NY Times / AP](http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/world/AP-Asia-Storm.html) > [@](#): > > Typhoon Durian Slams Into Philippines > > By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS > Published: November 30, 2006 > > Filed at 7:35 a.m. ET > > MANILA, Philippines (AP) – A powerful typhoon tore through the eastern Philippines on Thursday, blowing away small houses, uprooting trees and cutting off power to thousands of homes, officials said. No deaths or injuries were immediately reported. ---
**Author:** ![Nancarrow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c37758/32.png) [@Nancarrow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nancarrow)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2006, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/typhoon-durian/382312/2 "2006-11-30T14:59:18Z")
[QUOTE=ratatoskK] My question is: Isn’t “durian” that famously smelly fruit that supposedly tastes wonderful but has an odor that makes you gag, and is prohibited on airplanes for that reason? Is the Phillipines being rained on by thousands of durians? From [NY Times / AP](http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/world/AP-Asia-Storm.html) [/QUOTE] Yes it is. Though the one occasion I went to SE Asia and had quite a bit of durian fruit, I didn’t find the smell offensive. Very strong, sure, but I didn’t want to gag. I wish I had some now… but I guess the other people in the flats don’t. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2006, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/typhoon-durian/382312/3 "2006-11-30T15:22:38Z")
Fresh durian doesn’t smell that bad. Let is sit for a while… ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2006, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/typhoon-durian/382312/4 "2006-11-30T15:56:50Z")
Just a guess, but I’m thinking that Typhoon Durian, is similar to Hurricane Edith; “Durian” is a name someone gave to this particular one. ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2006, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/typhoon-durian/382312/5 "2006-11-30T16:06:39Z")
Typhoon Durian? Would that be a shit storm? ---
**Author:** ![Tully\_Mars](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7ab992/32.png) [@Tully\_Mars](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tully_Mars)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2006, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/typhoon-durian/382312/6 "2006-11-30T18:16:29Z")
I wondered out loud one day how a durian could smell bad and taste good, because smell is such an important part of ‘taste’. A few days later, a coworker with an Asian girlfriend brought one into the lab and the mystery was solved. It doesn’t taste good. It tasted every bit as bad as it smelled and it smelled horrific. Imagine rotten eggs wrapped in dirty socks inside a dead animal laying on the side of the road in the hot sun for a week. I’ll eat almost anything, but I could only handle a couple of bites of the durian. It did have a hint of sweetness, like a honeydew melon. Maybe if you cut it up and let it air out for a few days. I’m nearly convinced the whole thing is a big Asian practical joke on us gullible Americans. It worked, I fell for it. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2006, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/typhoon-durian/382312/7 "2006-11-30T18:21:51Z")
Does durian turn gray as it ages? If you took a picture of it, would the picture smell good while the fruit got gamier?