Ethan, I hope you have a better experience with your frozen mangosteens than I did!! I thought eating the canned mangosteens was bad...the frozen would turn any first timers away from the fruit forever. The flesh in most was all dried out. The flesh that wasn't dried out had absorbed the purple stain from the rind, which turned the flesh incredibly bitter and foul. Having tried fresh mangosteen in Thailand, I could just barely get the hint of what the frozen had to offer. I let a few people here at work try one...after all of my talk about them they were anxious to try it out. I warned them that they did not do the fresh fruit any justice at all. After trying one, they looked at me like I was trying to poison them!!! There are now two people who will NEVER ever try a mangosteen again...fresh or otherwise! I'm sure there are some out there better than what I happened to get, but I won't try them again. Good luck! Hope they are good for ya.

I must admit, Jay is mostly correct. I have never met a durian that I wouldn't try, with the one exception being the bag that was left in the car for several days. I actually did that on purpose because I LOVE the smell of ripe durian! ;-) Speaking of smell, the frozen 'Monthong' you can buy in Asian food stores has only a faint smell of a fresh durian, but you can get the idea. The texture remains fairly close and the flavor is pretty close as well. I think of durian as an acquired taste. I recall the first time I tried it (frozen) and I thought to myself, "what is all the fuss about?". Its sort of a mushy blob of flesh, custardy with onion overtones perhaps, but I was not at all impressed. (In my opinion it is the texture that turns off most Westerners as we don't really have any other fruit that is similiar in this regard.) The next time I tried it (still frozen), it was better, and the aroma was starting to grow on me. By the time I reached Thailand, I was hooked, a serious durianophile! You have to experience it to believe it. Now I can detect the faintest smell in the air, and I am drawn to it. There is a saying in Malaysia (I believe), that "when the durians come down, the sarongs go up", which is a reference to the aphrodisiac qualities attributed to the fruit. I recall being in a department store once with a few pieces of durian in a sealed plastic bag, and I couldn't help but notice several girls walking by and smiling. I was starting to feel pretty good about myself until I realized that they could smell the durian! lol It was really nice to get my celebrity status 15 mintues of fame in Thailand as every time this "farang" would eat durian, I seemed to draw a crowd of locals staring at me. I'm not sure if they were waiting to see if I would like it or to see if I would get sick. Either way, I rarely left a piece behind. I think the province where the expensive "Kanyeow' durian was grown was Nonthaburi. The soil there was said to impart the perfect taste. I was too cheap to spend $100+ for a fruit to find out. Maybe next time. As it stands, just like everywhere else the population is growing there and land (and a flood as I recall) have reduced the growing area in that province, making the fruit even more expensive. I really can't believe that the guy can stomach all the stuff he eats but can get down some durian. It may be that he just doesn't like it, but I suspect that he might be just trying to add to the mystique of the fruit. Pepperot - chilled durian and sticky rice! To die for!

Hey chrisvelas77. Did you go to the 99 Ranch in Claremont Mesa? I was there this weekend also and saw all the fruit you were talking about. I love fresh Durian but they cost about 30-60 bucks a piece for the fresh stuff. If you like that white Dragonfruit, you are going to love the ones that are red inside. I think the Dragonfruit at 99 Ranch is usually horrible but they occasionally get some good ones. The Lychees are labled as Hak Ip and they were ok but some of them still had a little green so the next shipment should be much better. Good looking out everyone. Lets keep everyone updated when you see good quality fruit around the SoCal area. The Kent Mangoes are in now and they are really tasty and sweet but they are much more fibrous than I have ever tasted. I think they are using way too much artificial fertilizer on the trees. Mangosteens are now being sold in other markets now, not just Lucky Seafood. I saw them at Nijiya Market and also the market that used to be called Vien Dong in Linda Vista.

You've got to really take in the comments concerning the smell. It really is not an issue when dealing with good, ripe fruit. Otherwise, there is no way in hell that huge shopping mall would allow a durian festival to take place inside. The smell only comes into play with seriously over ripe fruit, cut up fruit pieces discarded to bake in the sun, or fruit in a baggie kicked beneath an SUV seat. While attending all the festivals, dropping by durian stalls, or cutting up a fruit at the house, I don't recall any strong smell at all. The few times where the odor was noticeable, taste and smell are worlds apart. This fruit is not like picking up a mangosteen or lychee. As Warren mentioned, I don't believe this is a fruit most people taste for the first time and the "wow" meter jumps off the gauge. It is more of an acquired taste...one that you have to ease into gently. It does grow on you and you soon find that you must try one everywhere you go. I'm not near Warren's level yet, but it is lots of fun to have everyone stare at you when you take a bite.