While there are undoubtedly profits to be made, there are also environmental costs from the extra land being devoted to growing Musang King. There have been land grabs from indigenous people, deforestation, reduction of wildlife habitats, a loss of natural durian fruit pollinators, and problems arising from large-scale monocropping, such as heavy and uncontrolled use of pesticides resulting in polluted rivers.

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Monocropping is made more perilous by the fact that the Musang King is self-incompatible or self-infertile and needs cross pollination from another durian variety. Experienced planters warn that the durian is temperamental. Even fruit from the same tree may taste different and the same variety may also vary in flavour when planted in different states, depending on the soil, elevation and weather.

SMELLS LIKE COLONIALISM

While the durian is hugely popular among Chinese consumers all over Asia and in the West, the addition of the China market does not make it a global favourite.

It has been received far less enthusiastically in the West. A headline from Le Figaro in 2017, “The durian, an exotic fruit, smelly … and dangerous”, carries all the tropes of colonial sensationalism. The word “exotic”, reserved mostly for distant cultures, is used to describe the durian’s spiky appearance. Further Eurocentric cultural relativism is couched in the comparison with something closer to the French palate and understanding, cheese: “a mixture of cheeses ‘trop fait’”.

In other words, the durian’s smell reflects the excesses and extremity of the East. Likened to decomposing corpses and dead cats, the fruit is abject in that it tests our bodily boundaries, provokes revulsion and reminds us of our mortality. Even more culturally offensive is British chocolatier Paul Young’s chocolate degoutant with durian filling – described as “having a vomit-like taste” – made in collaboration with a non-profit organisation Women’s Trust to highlight domestic abuse in Britain this year.

What can be done?

LIKE FINE WINE

To win over the global market,Malaysia has to have a strong marketing strategy andbuild up its brand and identity. It must tell a unitary story and offer a premium quality product. Enter the Musang King a.k.a. Mao Shan Wang a.k.a. Raja Kunyit to give its Thai rival, the Monthong, a run for its money. The Musang King, registered in 1993 with the Malaysian Department of Agriculture under the name D197, has to represent the Malaysian durian abroad and be synonymous with the nation as well as the durio zibethinus as a whole; representing both the nuances, complexity of flavours, taste and smell and the sophisticated palate of a multicultural, diverse nation. In fact, the owner of Bao Sheng Farm in Balik Pulau, Penang, describes the freshly fallen Malaysian durian as having five flavours: floral, sweet, bitter, wine-like and numbing.

The branding of the Malaysian durian includes efforts to elevate its social status to be on a par with wine: developing appropriate discourse to include questions of terroir and flavour profiles, holding durian tastings, educating consumers on how to recognise the different varietals by appearance (shape of the fruit, size and shape of the thorns, texture, colour) and how to select a good durian, to heighten appreciation of the fruit and recognise its complexity and diversity.

These efforts are already underway, undertaken by media-savvy entrepreneurs, bloggers, durian aficionados and foodies. For example, among the abundant dedicated social media, blogs and websites, A Guide to Different Durian Flavour Profiles that appeared in the Michelin Guide Global in 2017 attests to the gentrification of the much-loved fruit, demonstrating connoisseurship.

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At these family-run farms, tourists can experience a variety of durian clones: D24, IOI/Johor Mas, Black Thorn, Red Prawn, XO, D160 Tekka/Bamboo Bottom, Green Skin, all of which have different subtle characteristics in terms of colour, shape, texture and taste. For example, the Black Thorn variety, grown mostly in Penang where it originated, got its name because the tips of the thorns tend to be darker. Its flesh is a “very deep and rich yellow, and tastes very sweet and custardy” while the D24, the most famous commercial breed since the 1980s, is known for its creamy texture, with a distinctive bitter taste. Some durian lovers, however, uphold the cheaper kampong or village durians – earlier “designer durians” from older trees that predate the grafted clones – with their thin but unique alcoholic-bitter flesh and large seeds.

Emphasising a multipronged approach in the Durian Strategy, Deputy Agricultural and Agro-Industry Minister Sim Tze Tzin has talked about creating downstream products: using durian pulp for making desserts and biscuits, in mooncakes, durian white coffee and other novel durian products. The sweet dishes may be a more gentle introduction to the fruit for newcomers, and the savoury dishes would cater to the brave new foodie: durian pizza, durian hotpot, Musang King nasi lemak, in risotto or barbecued, fried with salted egg.

Taste issues aside, rebranding Malaysia’s Musang King durian – especially if it is to appeal to millennials – should also entail effective implementation and enforcement of environmental regulations so that “sustainability” in durian discourse does not become a meaningless word.

All these endeavours mark the Malaysian durian’s character as unique, interesting, and different from its milder Thai cousin, hopefully enough to give it global distinction and prove its soft power. ■

Gaik Cheng Khoo is Director of the University of Nottingham’s Asia Research Institute in Malaysia