MSW were purchased from 3 different stalls, 1 is a new stall, the other 2 were well established stalls. Price differs were pronounced. I shall not name the stalls nor prices to be fair.
Stall 1. New stall.
Price is general as most other stalls around the island. We reserved 2 from this stall. I did a further screening to pick what I thought would be better. But I am not an expert in choosing thus it would be unfair to them to say theirs are of a certain standard.
However, the MSW is average. As much as I think it would be likewise for many stalls.
Stall 2. Established stall.
Price is steep. About 40% higher than 1st stall. Quality is much better yet lacking the 'punch I look for in MSW.
Given the much higher Price, the standard is expected to be vastly better. Well, it was.
Stall 3. Established stall with good reputation.
Price is 50% higher than 1st stall and quality beats all. Maybe the boss knows we are doing a comparison so he picked the best in his opinion. We were all in awe.
The 2 were dry yet sticky and nice bitterness and mildly sweet.
The boss further opened another 2 to treat us, each having a different character, with 1 having a flora and smoked woody scent and another having a kind of spiciness bite (mildly acidic or burning sensation) in the sides of my tongue, the kind of MSW I seek.
This stall will gladly replace or not giving it to customers if it doesn't meet the customer's standard.
For the price they charge, its worth it.
Below photos are not in any sequence and no pinpointing which durian were purchased from which stall.
Given the high cost and selling Price, we will not be able to indulge as much as we did last year or before.
may i know why a same durian can have different taste? beside from the tree's age. do surrounding durian will affect the taste of a durian since durian need cross pollination to bear fruits?
ReplyDeleteIf you ask me, as a layman, I would think, Durians are agriculture produce, thus it can not be controlled like products manufacturing. The same fruit, has several sides, and each receiving different amount of sunlight, receiving different amount of 'feeds' from the tree. This will result in different quality. Same as, same bunch of grapes can taste different.
ReplyDeleteplus types of soil, high land or low land, and fertilizers play significant factors. the number of fruits produced per tree also come into consideration. that's why some farmers would cut several branches & reduce the number of fruits to concerntrate giving more nutrients to the remaining fruits. correct me if im wrong
ReplyDeleteIt's subjective. Based on some memory of couple of farm visits and observations, farmers would like durian variants with higher yields, which explains why some durians are not popular with farmers.
ReplyDeleteThere are occasions they would cut off some durians, for several reasons. If a branch bears too many fruits, it will be too heavy for the branch, and may just break off (seen 1 such case) from the weight or wind/rain. Another reason for cutting off some durian happens when a bunch of durians grows together, thereby it may bring down the other durian in the bunch or the ripe durian may not get to drop if it's caught by the others in the bunch.
On soil, land elevation, fertilizers, these does affect quality and yield of durian etc.
Anyway, that's just my pov and may not be accurate either.
thank u for the explanation.
ReplyDeletei remember reading a post where the durian farmer said that in order to produce Black Gold Musang King, he would purposely choose & cut several fruits during growing stage & give specially imported fertilizer to the tree. so that it will produce much better results compared to ordinary MK & able to sell it at higher price.
but he also said that such practise & production is very limited due to cost & demands. just like u said, farmers prefer to grow certain cultivars that yield more fruits per tree for better profits. running a durian plantation isn't an easy job at all..