handpicked durians on its way

benson spent soooo much time since early this morning to pick out the best durians for my delivery today...

kept asking him if he is sure they are not either unripe, dry or problematic.. he was like "you dun trust me ar... i pick personally one leh"

hehe.... of cos i trust you mr ku but jus scared of human error ma... my life is at stake leh. they better be good, if not i have to kneel durian shells you know...

of cos i'm confident of the taste of these durians from old trees. But durians, being a natural product, tend to have many flaws. be it cracked, unripe, rotten, out-of-shape (not all durians are oval or round, some can look like a lopsided speech bubble, etc). do not be taken in by the looks, many out-of-shape durians actually taste better than "pretty" durians.

other than the fact that there are many species of durians, which the durian expert will have to distinguish in one look, they will have to grade it A, B, C according to its shape, size and state. (Of cos we get the A!!! ;D)

different species have different prices. in our plantation, there are quite a few species, sultan, D24, milk, etc, but mostly butter. being an expensive type of durian, durian graders who buy for durian hawkers tend to be very 'ngiao' when grading it because of its price. some purposely grade a obviously good durian into B or C with a flimsy excuse just to get a better price. this sometimes angers benson's mum (a 60 year old lady with alot of zest), who will pick it out and claim it for personal consumption rather than being cheated of the grading. ;)

the best part about durians is that no two durians are alike, jus like all things natural, even unique to its own taste. so savour the durians you get today and indulge in its unique flavour, cos the next one you open will not taste exactly the same again. :)