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posted by Fnord666 on Tuesday May 01 2018, @01:44AM   Printer-friendly
from the what-is-that-smell? dept.

BBC News reports

More than 500 students and teachers were evacuated from a university in Melbourne, Australia, as a result of a smell initially suspected to be gas.

But it turned out the "gas" that students smelt at a Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology library was a rotting durian found in a cupboard.

[...]

Durians are a prized fruit in South East Asia with a sweet and creamy flesh, but their smell can take some getting used to.


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  • (Score: 3, Funny) by Sulla on Tuesday May 01 2018, @02:41AM (8 children)

    by Sulla (5173) on Tuesday May 01 2018, @02:41AM (#674013) Journal

    Could have just said that they found durian in a cupboard, I dont think it makes much difference fresh or rotten as far as the smell goes.

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    Ceterum censeo Sinae esse delendam
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  • (Score: 5, Funny) by realDonaldTrump on Tuesday May 01 2018, @04:13AM

    by realDonaldTrump (6614) on Tuesday May 01 2018, @04:13AM (#674031) Homepage Journal

    When Asia sends its fruit, they're not sending their best. They're sending fruit that has lots of problems. They're laughing at us, at our stupidity. And now they are beating us economically. They are not our friend, believe me. But they're killing us economically. The U.S. has become a dumping ground for everybody else's rotten fruit. Thank you.

  • (Score: 2) by canopic jug on Tuesday May 01 2018, @04:19AM (6 children)

    by canopic jug (3949) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday May 01 2018, @04:19AM (#674034) Journal

    Some people are crazy about durians. I'm not. I thought I was indifferent, they have a nice taste underneath the stench, but the last one I had really did seem like rotted onions, turpentine, and gym socks.

    Once I visited a friend in a major city during a heatwave and she insisted on getting and sharing a durian. It wasn't much of a share. As soon as we cracked the rind and the smell got out and my friend became frantic in an animalistic way to get the edible parts out, almost forgetting about using the knife to finish cutting. As soon as the first part was accessible she jammed as much in her mouth as would fit, chewed, swallowed, and jammed in more. Then with pieces of durian in both hands, and unable to swallow more at the moment, she looked at the pieces in her hands and slapped the smallest in my hand, jammed more in her mouth, and grabbed more in each hand. After she had been eating with both hands for a while there was only a little left and she calmed down slightly and we finished it off after a while. The stench from the leftover rind filled the whole neighborhood and in the heat you could almost see the vapors.

    As far as tropical fruits go, I much prefer cherimoya aka custard apple. They're hard to get in most parts of the world however.

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    Money is not free speech. Elections should not be auctions.
    • (Score: 3, Interesting) by arslan on Tuesday May 01 2018, @04:36AM (4 children)

      by arslan (3462) on Tuesday May 01 2018, @04:36AM (#674037)

      A bit of trivia, I've grown up on Custard Apple or as we call it in Asia Soursop. Never heard of Cherimoya before until you mentioned it, apparently they are not the same fruit but are very similar (cousins?). Soursop is pretty common in Asia, even here in Australia I can get it readily during season from Chinese grocery stores.

      As for Durians, I like em a lot. There are some species which are more pungent in a good way and some really smelly too. The "meat" of the fruit can vary from mango like to really soft creamy like texture.

      Maybe the association with smelly sock is not a common first impression for asians because culturally, wearing socks is not a common thing. I grew up rocking sandals and thongs, umm flip-flops..

      • (Score: 2) by canopic jug on Tuesday May 01 2018, @04:49AM (1 child)

        by canopic jug (3949) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday May 01 2018, @04:49AM (#674042) Journal

        They're apparently close enough that I've confused them. I've had both custard apples and cherimoyas both fresh and shipped and just put the differences down to that, bad translations of names, and different farms. Bananas are like that, even discounting the many varieties. There are many varieties, all exquisite when fresh, but bad otherwise when shipped. In contrast to the fresh ones, the ones you get in most places are flavorless and woody.

        --
        Money is not free speech. Elections should not be auctions.
      • (Score: 4, Funny) by canopic jug on Tuesday May 01 2018, @09:40AM (1 child)

        by canopic jug (3949) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday May 01 2018, @09:40AM (#674085) Journal

        The "meat" of the fruit can vary from mango like to really soft creamy like texture.

        Most of the ones I've had have been like the latter, nice and creamy. But I've been indifferent to the taste except for the one which was quite foul.

        One "good" one I brought as a house gift and at the end of the evening as people were leaving one person commented, "thanks for everything, except the durian." Another person in that group was wild about the flavor though. While the others just didn't say anything, I figure they disliked it.

        --
        Money is not free speech. Elections should not be auctions.
        • (Score: 3, Informative) by Freeman on Tuesday May 01 2018, @06:46PM

          by Freeman (732) on Tuesday May 01 2018, @06:46PM (#674258) Journal

          You figure right. I like food that smells good. Durian is pretty much the opposite of that. Some people claim to love it, but I think it's more like coffee. An acquired taste.

          --
          Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
    • (Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday May 01 2018, @06:27AM

      by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday May 01 2018, @06:27AM (#674058)

      they have both fresh and frozen. Also from far east, ice creams and frozen pops. Still cannot get the nerve to try, but they are there in multiple forms.