‘King of Fruits’ at Osborne Street
It’s that season again; where all Malaysians young and old, some foreigners too, join in the fun.
To the die-hard fans out there, yes…we’re talking about DURIANS! Here we have a picture of durians being sold along Osborne Street, Ipoh (in the early 1970s). Were there many stalls selling durians in those days? We’d like to hear from you - of your fond memories with the King of Fruits!
July 20th, 2010 at 8:40 am
The only memory i cud recall of Osborne Street in the 80’s the area wuz a vice den
July 20th, 2010 at 3:22 pm
vice den? where in Osborne Street was it?
July 20th, 2010 at 4:50 pm
Wow….Durian “King of Fruits” ,it’s my favourite fruit indeed!Actually ,regardless of the place where the durian stall are the same.Different are types of durian and the way and price they sell it.Haaaa…Mat salleh “tak boleh tahan” this smelly fruit,haaaaa…one of my Mat salleh friend commented to me, it’s smell like shit..! Ah…for me, I like it most,I’m real hungry for it.haaaa..
I heard that Perak has the most creamy and tasty durian, is it true ? Sadly,I have missed The Great Durian Festival(Festival Jom Makan Durian)in the year 2009 at Bukit Gantang,Taiping,Perak.
Anyone still remember this event ?
Ah, yes the taste of durian is always a pleasure , to compensate back for what i hv missed in 2009,I have tried once eating durian in a plantation in one of the indigenius settlemet,Selayang, Selangor.The plantation which surrounded by nature and was a new experience.It was indeed wonderful.
July 20th, 2010 at 7:34 pm
Hi Felicia, I remembered such scene at Osborne Street during the 80s and 90s. The sellers are usually Malay and Orang Asli. Only a few are Chinese. The Malay and Orang Asli sellers normally charged cheaper compared to Chinese sellers. This is because the former grew their own durians while the latter brought them through a middleman. Beside durians, they also sell other fruits like rambutan, mangosteens and duku langsat.
My family did not buy them because durians were considered luxuries. We are more concerned with plain rice and other basic food. Maybe that explained why until now, I did not acquired a taste for this fruit. I found the smell too strong for my liking. It is not among my choice of favorite fruits.
July 20th, 2010 at 9:30 pm
Yes, I remember (1960s) Osbourne St - it was part of the part of the main night area of Ipoh - starting from Capitol theater up to Jubilee park. At night there were a lot of hawkers stalls along side the padang and of course the durian sellers. It was fondly called lowleen kai and the nearby lane was lowleen hong (where the vice dens were). Somehow my parents harldy bought durians there as there were a lot of unscrupulous sellers there - we only bought there when we couldn’t find them elsewhere.
July 21st, 2010 at 1:17 am
In the 70’s you pay for the durian by the number and size of the durian. Now it is by the weight.
There are still a lot of stories concerning the consumption of durian. Firstly, you must not drink alcohol after eating durian. It seemed that there will be a severe reaction in the stomach and then you will be planting ‘fun see’ or going to ‘Holland’ (local term for death.) This seemed to be a better way then consuming weed killer.
Durian is supposed to be ‘heaty’ and you counter it by eating mangosteen which is supposed to be cooling. Also you can put water on the inner side of the skin and drink the water.
In the 60’s there are not so much varieties. There are just the kampong durian. They are judged by the location eg. bukit gantang,taiping are supposed to be the best. The event mentioned by KLboy was held on the weekend for 2 days. It was worth the price as there were many types available. The durian batu (on the 7th mile on the way to cameron highland from tapah was supposed to be the best. The orang asli charged about rm50 for one and you have to book it. There is another place-in a rubber dealer shop just behind the gopeng market. The orang asli will bring the durians from their trees. They are supposed to be good.
Raja Kunyit, mao san wong (mountain cat king) are the best and most expensive. There are also the D24, XO, hoong hah (red prawns) which are quite popular. But D24 is still the favourite. There are many more types but I could not remember the names. The advantage of buying the cloned type is that you know how they taste.
When buying the kg type, I have seen people bringing their plastic containers and making the vendors opened the fruits and putting the seeds inside the containers. In this way, if the durians are not ripe, they can exchange them immediately. It can easily be kept for a few days in the fridge.
The jalan Leong Boon Swee road (behind the mosque) are also a popular place for the durian sellers. As usual, they are mostly Malays.
July 21st, 2010 at 8:30 am
glad this post excited all the durian-fans!
KLBoy, don’t worry….i also missed the Durian Festival
Ipohgal, if you’re curious about the taste, perhaps start with a small fruit? during my tertiary education, i had a house-mate from China who had fallen in love with durians - once when we were at the Pasar Malam, she bought a medium-sized fruit and ate the entire thing for dinner (put me, a Malaysian, to shame!
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Allan and Old timer…..thanks for your input (and the little ‘history’ lesson too!). now they (durian sellers) seem to be everywhere……not just those places you mentioned.
July 21st, 2010 at 10:49 am
Hi Felicia, the only time I consumed some durians was during my pregnancies. Turn out both my young kids loved durians too. After that, I never touch this fruit again. I think they smelled like cat shit!! Yak!! This is something either you loved it or hated it.
July 21st, 2010 at 4:51 pm
Ah if “durian be the food of love eat on” change Shakespeare quotation a bit. That is my favourite fruit. Durian is noted to be king of the fruit whereas mangosteen is the queen. Preferably one cannot be without the other.
Thanks with all the blogs above about durians brought back many happy memories of my younger days.
As I lived in Brewster Road, it is very near Osborne Street, just across the road. When the durian season arrived, there were fragrance in the air. (Maybe others smell shit, I don’t know hahaha…) We never fail to go and buy some to eat. There are lots of people squatting haggling over the price of durians. Some squat and eat there and then. Whereas some will take it home to consume with their families. I remember how I follow explicitly instruction how to choose good durians. You have to see the thorns and shake the durians. If you can hear the seeds of the inside of the durians and smell their fragrance then it was good.
I did followed the tenets of how to choose a good durian, but it never work quite so well. So were good and some are bad. Just luck.
I remember one of my escapade, it was during the durian season again. One of my friend and I are crazy about durians. We passed by piles and piles of durians on our way to Church. We were looking at one another and with telephatic understanding that we were going to buy after Church service. During the service we were squirming on our seats unable to concentrate on the sermon but only thoughts of durians. Temptation overcame us we scooted out of the Church without for the sermon to end. We happily bought some to enjoy the mouth watering fruits. When we opened up to our dismay all were either rotten or watery. Very little to eat. Taught us a lesson that we must leave only when the sermon ended. “Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from all evil.” Through our fault, through our most grevious fault. Think God must have forgiven us after that episode. He had the last laugh at us. hahaha……
Thanks for reminding me. I shall be going to buy some later on to indulge in.
July 22nd, 2010 at 8:22 am
Hi Katherine! i loved your story!! yes, “lead us not into temptation” indeed….
after all this talk about durians, i think it’s time i join the ‘hunt’……..yes, the smell might be strong, but once you taste it, you forget about the smell!
July 23rd, 2010 at 11:42 am
The durian picture brought back fond memories of my growing-up days in Ipoh. It makes me sad to realise that we will never get to see such a scene again. But we all have to move on.
September 1st, 2010 at 11:59 am
last time my dad always brought me here for some good durian…miss this place a lot!….