November 29, 2023 • 32 mins
These mild-flavored fruits grow on giant cacti and look like dragon eggs. Anney and Lauren dig into the history and science of the dragon fruit.
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Speaker 1 (00:09):
Hello, and welcome to Savor production of iHeartRadio. I'm Annie
Reese and.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
I'm more on Vocal Bam and today we have an
episode for you about dragon fruit.
Speaker 1 (00:17):
Yes we do, oh because I've mentioned Life Day, very
important holiday for me just past. This is the infamous
Star Wars Holiday special nineteen seventy nine where we were
introduced to a Wookie holiday. I would call it Star
(00:40):
Wars Christmas meat Thanksgiving, okay, yeah, but it was presented
in a seventies variety show and it was a ride,
is what we'll say. But I'll also say Life Day
has gone mainstream. There are now like a f things
(01:00):
like not fan made things, official things you could buy
around Life Day. There is a cookbook that I have
and as I was getting ready for Life Day, which
is on November seventeenth, I was perusing this cookbook and
I was looking for something we could talk about that
would be Life Day adjacent. And we've done a lot
of them already, but one ingredient I kept seeing was
(01:23):
dragon fruit. Oh okay, okay, yes, which I suspect is
for it's you know, in heavy quote, so like oh,
the worldly experience. It is a unique looking thing.
Speaker 2 (01:37):
Yeah, they look, they look stunning, honestly, and yes, I
feel like there has been There's definitely been a show
that was not set on this world that I watched
relatively recently in which a nice prop master had just
like put a dragon fruit out on a table and I.
Speaker 1 (01:57):
Was like, huh huh, okay, cool. Yeah, I mean they're
really really beautiful. I don't think I've never bought one.
I've never know to cut one, although I'm eager to
learn more from you, Lauren, but I hear it's not
that hard. It looks like it'd be difficult.
Speaker 2 (02:17):
Yeah, No, I've I've I've purchased exactly one to to
kind of yeah, I was like, what is this about,
Let's find out. And to be honest, the one that
I got wasn't super exciting to me, Like it's again,
very pretty, extremely photogenic, but but the flavor to me
was kind of just bland. But but I've heard that
(02:39):
that's something that a lot of producers are working with
to try to improve and that there is different bridals
that are a little bit more strongly flavored. So or
maybe I just got a dud. I mean, it's natural
product that that can that can happen.
Speaker 1 (02:53):
But yeah, yeah, definitely not.
Speaker 2 (02:55):
Difficult to work with, Like they look like they're going
to give you a lot of trouble, but it was.
Speaker 1 (03:01):
It was.
Speaker 2 (03:02):
I mean, I would liken it to an apple or
orange experience.
Speaker 1 (03:08):
Yeah, well, their their insights are also pretty striking. So
I feel like I have had it in like a
fruit bowl situation, I feel like I've had it. I've
just never personally bought it, cut it, worked with it,
but I think I have had it, And a lot
of descriptions I've read was that it's kind of a
(03:28):
very despite its fabulous appearance, it's kind of a milder taste. Yeah, totally, So,
I don't know. I would love to hear more from
listeners about this. I have not currently made the recipes
I guess clearly from the Life Day book that include
dragon fruit, but I'm interested. I am interested. I like
(03:53):
a good nerdy recipe that we just ordered in because
it was a very busy day.
Speaker 2 (04:00):
Yeah yeah, but but yeah, yeah, yeah, as soon as
you do, you'll have to you'll have to update us well.
Speaker 1 (04:07):
As you know, I have long been threatening, slash cajoling
you too watch the Life Special with me, So perhaps
that will be the day, Yeah, all right, sure, but
in the meantime dragon fruit what is it?
Speaker 2 (04:25):
Well, dragonfruit are the fruit of a type of cactus,
and they do look just really wild, sort of alien
or dragon like, I guess, hence the name. They grow
to about the size of a fist. They're sort of
oval in shape and have the skin that has these
like large spiked, protective waxy leaves enclosing this crisp juicy
(04:51):
kind of look mildly sweet and sour to maybe a
little bit earthy flesh that's shot through with tiny black seeds,
and the lee in the flesh can both come in
stunning colors like deep magenta, like the color out of space,
like absolutely like violet and magenta sometimes with the with
the tips of the leaves green in contrast, and the
(05:15):
flesh can be a similar color too, or a little
bit lighter pinkish or white. But even when it is white,
it's contrast with those black seeds is just so striking.
The flesh is usually what people are going for, though
the leaves and flowers or the skin and flowers are
also edible. That flesh is either eaten raw or processed
(05:36):
into beverages or desserts. It uh, yeah, it looks like
a dragon egg. That's what it looks like. It looks
like the egg of a dragon. And it tastes crisp
and refreshing, like a kind of like a mild pair
with crunchy little seeds, kind of like Kiwi seeds.
Speaker 1 (05:52):
It's it is.
Speaker 2 (05:53):
It is like someone from Props wished real hard for
like a sustainable bit of set dressing that grows on trees. Yeah,
and here the dragon fruit is yep, yeah, there you go.
Or okay, not technically on trees, because yes, botanically, dragon
(06:18):
fruit plants are categorized as a few species within the
highlo serious genus, which is part of the cactus family.
In the Americas, they're sometimes called pataya or pedaaya, which
can lead to a little bit of confusion because there
are some other cactus fruits that go by the same name.
There's also a little bit of confusion about their genus classification.
(06:41):
As we've talked about before, taxonomy is something that scientists
like kind of enjoy arguing about. But in this case,
the plants are not helping because they do cross pollenate easily.
So anyway, yes, this plant is a cactus, and if
you've ever seen what's called a Christmas cactus, although I
(07:03):
don't know why they're called that because their genus name
is Schlumbergera, which is amazing, Like, give me the option
to call something Schlumbergera and I am on top of that.
Speaker 1 (07:19):
Anyway, Christmas cactus.
Speaker 2 (07:21):
The dragon fruit plant looks a little bit like a
version of that that has just gone truly huge, just
absolutely like Jurassic in size. Or if you're familiar with
the orchid cactus, yeah, the dragon fruit plant is closely
related to that. It is a tropical to subtropical cactus
(07:44):
that grows these these thick, fleshy, jointed stems, just like
big old clusters of these flatish ribbed, wavy branches, often
with small spikes coming off of the sides. The number
of ribs on each stem is being pointed to is
a way to distinguish different genera Hilo serious or Salina serious.
(08:08):
That's that's not that's that's more detail than you probably needed,
but I found it fascinating.
Speaker 1 (08:12):
Anyway, here we go.
Speaker 2 (08:16):
They are planted in the ground, but those stems can
grow like twenty feet long, so they're given trellises that
they can climb up along and then kind of drape
back down over and they'll put out aerial roots out
into the trellises, and the overall effect when they reach
full size is like a like a huge draping kind
(08:39):
of meaty fern or like a willow. The plants can
live about thirty years, and once they're mature, they can
produce some hundred kilos that's about two hundred and twenty
pounds of fruit every year. Wow, they do that by Okay.
The tips of the stems might flower during warm months
(09:00):
with these big, pretty fragrant like white cream or maybe
pink flowers. The flowers can grow up to like fourteen
by nine inches that's like thirty five by twenty five centimeters.
Speaker 1 (09:13):
It's big.
Speaker 2 (09:15):
They only open at night, and I think I have
this correct. They open for one night only, yeah, and
thus depend on night pollinators like moths or bats, or
more likely human intervention in order to grow fruit. The
fruit that develops is again oblong, maybe about four and
(09:37):
a half inches or eleven centimeters thick or so. It
comes in four basic varieties. Okay, pinkish red skin with
flesh that's either white, pinkish red, or purple or yellow
skin with flesh that's white. All of them again have
the same small black seeds, and all are relatively mild
in flavor. I've read that the yellow types taste a
(10:00):
little stronger and sweeter. Again, if you've never seen one,
they are stunning. If you have experience with these different varietals,
right in and let us know.
Speaker 1 (10:14):
Yes.
Speaker 2 (10:16):
It is often eaten raw, peeled and diced, or maybe
scooped directly from a halved fruit, and then you know
used however, you use fresh fruit on its own or
in sweet or savory dishes. It's also sold frozen for
these uses, but it can be made into like juice
or wine, or cooked down into jam, or processed into desserts,
(10:37):
especially frozen desserts, and like jellies like gelatins. Yeah but yeah,
the peel is also edible. I understand. It's a little
bit bitter and used perhaps more like processed for color
than for actual flavor. Syrups made from it are used
to color pastries and candies. It's sometimes dried and then
used to steep in hot water as a sort of tea,
(10:59):
or deep fried into chips and eaten as a snack
or topping on other dishes. I know right, speaking of
deep frying, the flowers are also edible, and they can
be cooked like you would cook any kind of soft vegetable,
you know, similarred into a soup or sauteed or battered
in deep fried.
Speaker 1 (11:21):
Sold, sold, all of the above.
Speaker 2 (11:27):
The fruit is also prized as like an ornamental object,
and I've read that it's a symbol of good fortune
in some Chinese cultures in particular again right in Also,
it's extracts, especially those bright pigments, are being investigated for
various uses as a die for foods and cosmetics, and
(11:49):
for potential medicinal properties. Yes, well, what about the nutrition
by itself? Dragon fruit is pretty good you lots of fiber,
little bit of protein, smattering of micronutrients, not too much
sugar As with other vegetation. The more brightly colored they are,
the more like extra nutritional punch ups they're likely to contain.
(12:14):
It's really great for adding crunch and visual interest to
a salad or a yogurt, parfe or other fresh dishes
like that. You know, it'll help fill you up, but
to keep you going. Parrot with a protein and a
fat m.
Speaker 1 (12:29):
Just like dragons do. So I hear we do have
some numbers for you.
Speaker 2 (12:37):
We do, okay. As of this year twenty twenty three,
the global market for dragon fruit was valued at over
fourteen billion dollars in growing Wow. Asia Pacific grows and
consumes the most, but Europe is the fastest growing market segment.
The US imports most of our dragon fruit from Vietnam.
(12:59):
They they are the world's largest producer. They grow about
half of the world's supply of dragon fruit, and we're
not even their largest importer. That honor goes to China,
which imports as much as eighty percent of what Vietnam grows.
Speaker 1 (13:15):
How much was that?
Speaker 2 (13:17):
As of twenty nineteen, I can tell you Vietnam had
about fifty five thousand hectares of land planted with dragonfruit
and was producing some one point two million metric tons
every year.
Speaker 1 (13:29):
Wow hoofed up.
Speaker 2 (13:32):
Also side note, I still cannot get over the fact
that someone named their market research company mortor Intelligence.
Speaker 1 (13:40):
It gets me every time I know, and I feel
like we've never gotten to the bottom of this, But
every time we're like, did they do that? How intentional
was this?
Speaker 2 (13:54):
I you know, I haven't looked that hard because I
kind of don't want to know I just hope it's nerds.
I hope it's nerds. Back to dragon fruit. Other economically
important producers include Thailand, Israel, Mexico, Colombia, and Taiwan. Okay,
(14:17):
there's a couple festivals for dragon fruit here and there.
Twenty twenty three marked the second annual Dragonfruit Festival in
the province of Gamaris in the Philippines. I hope I'm
saying that right.
Speaker 1 (14:31):
I did look it up.
Speaker 2 (14:34):
This is the second year they've held this ten day
agro tourism event in August. Events include a parade with
dragon fruit inspired costumes, farm tours, music, and some like
educational slash business type sessions.
Speaker 1 (14:48):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (14:49):
The area has about twenty eight hector's planted, producing some
fifteen tons of fruit a year. Meanwhile, a small town
in Mexico called Mira Flores held its thirty first annual
bita Aya Festival this year in July. And it features
many kinds of cactus fruits and there's music and foods
(15:12):
like jams and drinks and cherberts made from the fruit.
And a horse cavalcade. Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, big, big
horse rearing area, especially in the past, so yeah.
Speaker 1 (15:28):
Well as always, listeners, please let us know if you've
been any my goodness pictures welcome.
Speaker 2 (15:35):
Yes, yes, anything about those costumes would be excited to
hear about.
Speaker 1 (15:42):
Yes, But we do have a lot of history for
you in the meantime.
Speaker 2 (15:46):
We do, and we are going to get into that
as soon as we get back from a quick break.
For a word from our sponsors, and we're back. Thank
you sponsor, Yes, thank you.
Speaker 1 (16:03):
So the dragon fruit is native to Mexico, Central America,
and South America. This one is kind of a dry
one because it's just the records that they have. But
these records do indicate records from that region that date
back to the thirteenth century, that it was around there,
and that it spread via birds. Producers propagated and cultivated
(16:28):
and experimented with dragonfruit to come up with an edible crop.
But yeah, in the early days, people and birds spread
the seeds to neighboring islands in the Caribbean. But there
are a few popular legends about dragon fruit, Okay, Yes.
One of the most repeated goes like this, thousands of
(16:50):
years ago, when fire breathing dragons breathed their last breath
out would come a dragon fruit. Yeah. If a human
slay a dragon. They would take the fruit and present
it to royalty as proof of their prowess, and the
dragon would be butchered and eaten by soldiers who were
(17:11):
hoping to be granted the dragon's strength. The meat near
the tail, which is where the core of their fire rested,
was the most coveted, and the taste for that meat
is what led to the extinction of dragons. Ah, which
is a cool story. And again it is a very
(17:32):
visually striking fruit. Yeah, I can totally see that.
Speaker 2 (17:38):
Yeah, I would not be surprised if a dragon coughed
went up.
Speaker 1 (17:42):
No, not at all, not at all. As with most things,
colonization and globalization spread dragon fruit production far and wide,
most notably in Asia. The Spanish introduced it to the
Philippines in the sixteenth century. By sixteen forty five it
was in China. The French introduced it to Vietnam and
(18:04):
surrounding areas sometime around eighteen sixty, where, according to some records,
it was first grown exclusively for Vietnam's royal family and
the wealthy.
Speaker 2 (18:16):
It had been introduced to Taiwan before that happened, back
in like the seventeen hundreds or so, but it didn't
become an economic crop until new varieties were reintroduced to
Taiwan from Vietnam.
Speaker 1 (18:29):
A shipment from Mexico heading for China introduced the dragon
fruit to Hawaii in eighteen thirty. Apparently a majority of
the crop had died during transport, and this they were
discarded during a stu Hawaii, but some of them were
still alive and were planted, and then they flourished, yes,
(18:49):
and were at first typically grown as an ornamental crop. Uh.
The first known record of dragon fruits in Florida isn't
until nineteen sixty two, though it probably was being cultivated
there much earlier than that.
Speaker 2 (19:03):
It was not introduced to Israel until the nineteen eighties,
but became a popular commercial crop for export to Europe
due to Israel's proximity to Europe.
Speaker 1 (19:17):
Yes, and beginning in the twentieth century, dragon fruit was
being grown commercially on a wide scale in many places,
including in Southeast Asian countries and even more particularly in Vietnam. Yes.
In other cases it has become naturalized or classified as
an invasive species. Yes. In many places like South Africa
(19:38):
and Brazil, it was introduced as an ornamental plant and
then became invasive.
Speaker 2 (19:43):
Yeah, but right, you know, like the spread of this fruit.
The fruit is a little bit delicate when it's fresh,
which means that as shipping technologies have improved, it's created
interest in new markets, which has then created interest in
new growing areas. As it is or it certainly can
be a high value crop. Each individual fruit may be
(20:06):
sold for like a couple bucks apiece, working out to
like eight dollars or more a pound.
Speaker 1 (20:12):
Right, and there is a lot of interest in this.
I found an article specifically about dragon fruit in California
and San Diego County. So since two thousand and seven,
the Wallace Ranch dragon fruit farm in San Diego County
has hosted a dragon fruit production tour for growers of
(20:33):
all levels in twenty twenty. They did go on hiatus
for two years, but when they opened registration in twenty
twenty two, it sold out in twenty four hours. Yes,
one of the participants said of the event that they
couldn't recall a year when the event didn't sell out.
I believe it's sixty people per tour. But yeah, there's
(20:56):
an excitement and there's people of all levels. Like I said,
there are people who are like, look, to get into it.
There are people who are into it but want to
know more like it's there is an interest for it
for sure.
Speaker 2 (21:07):
Yeah, I mean it's that's awesome. I mean they again,
they're really beautiful, and especially in this our modern era
of like instagrammable foods, I can see where people would
be interested in growing it. The plants are also super pretty,
Like I like looking up photos of these plants, I
was like, do I need to try to grow a
drive for a plant?
Speaker 1 (21:28):
Is that what I'm up to?
Speaker 2 (21:29):
I don't know.
Speaker 1 (21:32):
Yes, so then I can complete my life day feast, which,
by the way, the color of life day is also red.
Oh so yeah, food also kind of fits in that way, yeah,
kind of. Yeah, it's a chase, so sure. Yeah. Oh
(21:54):
well it is like a really I'm not exaggerating at
all that I could see and a lot of like
stories and fairy tales about how it came to be
because it is I know, we've used this word a
couple of times, but it's striking. It is like visually yah. Yeah,
and I love that it only opens up at night
like mad ones. That's wild.
Speaker 2 (22:21):
Yeah, I really I really want to find like a
botanical garden that has like a like a big full
plant and take a take a close up look at it,
because they.
Speaker 1 (22:31):
Sound they sound really amazing. They do, they do. I
want to as well, And you know, listeners as always,
if you've seen one, if you have pictures, if you've
grown one. Yeah, yes, oh my gosh. But I think
that's what we have to say about the Dragon Fruit
for now. It is.
Speaker 2 (22:50):
But we do already have some listener mail for you though,
and we are going to get into that as soon
as we get back from one more quick break for
word from our sponsors, and we're back.
Speaker 1 (23:07):
Thank you, sponsored, Yes, thank you, and we're back with
your school The Last Breath of the Dragon Beautiful. We're
having kind of a goofy recording day. Everybody, we are,
we are life day, you know. Yeah, it's just the joy.
Speaker 2 (23:33):
The joy is just bubbling up out of us instead
of viable sentences. So yes, it's fine, which is sort
of a difficulty for podcasting. Yeah, it's okay.
Speaker 1 (23:44):
I will say this letter, which is another letter we're
pulling in half because it's a little long, but again,
never that's not a bad thing at all. Please keep
the long letters coming. I think also involves something I
could see in a life day situation.
Speaker 3 (23:59):
The diry ah okay okay, yes, Kenner wrote, I write
to you from a place of abject and ignominious defeat.
Speaker 1 (24:10):
I like to consider myself a fairly adventurous eater, and
in fact have been accused of being a human garbage
disposal by my friends. I also have a very strong stomach.
I've worked in science labs with a variety of smells
ranging from pink thinner and hogfarts, so we gold bee
from and slowly rotting in the garbage disposal, and have
still been able to have a hearty lunch. I am
(24:32):
unfazed by liver and onions, weirdly expensive funky cheeses that
I paid too much for on sale to consider throwing out,
and the smell of burnt popcorn, and yet I am defeated.
This morning, my brother and I went shopping at the
local Southeast Asian supermarket. Four ingredients were vegan Thanksgiving lovely
(24:52):
things like mushrooms and black bean paste, baby bakchoi and
extra long green beans, bean sprouts and satan faux beef tips,
sessme oil and curry paste. As I was trying to
remember which per simmons are delicious, and which tastes like
getting a cavity field he saw it, a singular frozen Durian,
(25:13):
cracked open like a spiky seed pod, slightly wilted looking,
but the approximate size of a pineapple. And it was
only seven dollars. My brother's eyes lit up. He went
to Malaysia earlier this year to do fieldwork for his PhD,
and he swore up and down that everyone he met there,
including the American students, loved Durian. They ate it in
(25:34):
the field, they ate it on the bus, They ate
it on the bus to field sites. They ate it fresh,
they ate it in stew, they ate it on rice,
They ate it for breakfast. His PhD is now Durian powered.
I was mildly, mildly dubious. This is a man who
once produced a Mother's Day breakfast of peanut butter and
(25:54):
mustard on burnt joes. I'm willing willingly re engineering a
Thanksgiving feast with him, So it's several years too late
to doubt his ability to create edible food. Plus, I
thought I knew something about Durian. I listened to your
Durian episode way back when, and It was described by
(26:15):
alleged experts as kind of vanilla e kind of custardy,
but with an overwhelmingly funky scent cheesy. I assumed maybe
a bit of the off putting meatiness without substance of
bovine serum albumin, or the lightly plasticy taste of woodier mushrooms.
I remembered garlic and vanilla coming up, and figured that
(26:36):
the combination was probably off putting enough to give Durian
its reputation.
Speaker 2 (26:42):
Kind of continues. I smelled it. It smelled like lightly
sweetened goat cheese with a hint of leaks. Overall mild
enough to keep in an enclosed room with all the
other produce. I figured the intensity of the smell would
increase when the fruit was not frozen, but decided I'd
give it a try. A wee bought it, took it
to my parents' house to thaw. Fast forward to after dinner,
(27:04):
a lovely curry designed to use up whatever was taking
up room in the fridge that wasn't earmarked for the feast.
The Durian a left in my parents' covered porch for
several hours, had thawed. Friends, the smell of the Durian
did not increase. It changed completely for something so polarizing.
It's a weirdly light scent, but it's not sweet or
(27:26):
herbal or any scent that most people would name. Instead
of smelling like a cheese that didn't know if it
was sweeter savory, or like rotting fruit or compost or
eggs or anything that had ever been living, it smelled
like a gas leak and not the rotten egg smell
of natural gas. It smelt like pumping gas into a
(27:47):
rusted out barrel. It smelled like like the dirty bunsen
burners in my high school chemistry lab. It smelt like
a hundred years worth of tin cans being bathed in
lighter fluid. It smelled like someone pickled a rotting leak
and kerosene indescribable ah. It smells like the inside of
an oil lamp that someone dissolved plato in. It smells
(28:11):
like a reminder that vanilla on its own doesn't actually
taste sweet. It smells like I could strike a match
in front of my face and breathe fire. And it
tastes like if you removed all the flavor molecules from
a banana at the cellular level, turned it into a
pudding and let it sit in a metal tray at
a buffet for a week until it developed a pudding
(28:31):
skin more durable than plastic wrap. Also, the seed in
the middle of each lobe feels strangely compressed, like a
little puck of laminate flooring. I had one lobe the
approximate size of an apricot. I tried washing my hands
and mouth. I tried saltwater gargle. I tried mince. I
(28:54):
tried salsa. I tried pickles. I tried inserting my nose
directly into a bottle of homemade salad dressing. Nothing worked,
because once you have eaten the Durian, the smell lives
inside your sinuses and lungs like it pays rent. Every
so often it will waft back through your brain like
a chemical spill. That damn durian is sitting on my parents'
(29:18):
porch table like a curse, because my brother insists he's
going to finish eating it, even though it is and
I quote, not a good Durian. I have retired to
google whether it is safe to put toothpaste into your nostrils.
Happy Thanksgiving, This is a work of art. Thank you,
(29:41):
Oh my goodness. Oh wow, very descriptive. Thank you Kenna,
Thank you Annie for giving me that to read.
Speaker 1 (29:51):
That was lovely. Oh my goodness, that's beautiful, so good,
very dramatic, felt like reading a horror story. I loved it.
Uh wow, oh holy heck. It's hard to say, you know,
because we still haven't I haven't had any Yeah, I
don't think.
Speaker 2 (30:11):
Yeah, not certainly, not fresh or previously frozen, you know.
Like I like, like I had a little bit of
like a little like like packaged pastry, like like a
little uh like like puff pastry twist that had some
like Durian like jam in it, but that that is
clearly a different experience than this, because I was kind
(30:34):
of like, why does this jam taste like garlic?
Speaker 1 (30:36):
And like?
Speaker 2 (30:36):
But that was like, that was all I really felt
about it.
Speaker 1 (30:41):
I'm a little worried that you will be haunted by
this Durian for the rest of your life. To be honest,
I know it sounds. I mean, it's lurking. It knows
you now, it does, it does. And you've tried all
of these things, very creative solutions, desperate solutions, and that
(31:05):
didn't work. So I don't know, Well, I hope the
rest of your meals go well during the holidays.
Speaker 2 (31:19):
Yeah, I hope that something eventually. I hope that it's
like a like like getting a song stuck in your
head kind of and that like eventually you kind of
get it out and like, yeah, maybe it'll pop back,
but like less less intensely every time, you know.
Speaker 1 (31:32):
Right, and you know, maybe one day you'll try a
different Durian and it'll be a good Durian or maybe it'll
be the same. That's the curse of the d I
would love to hear how your brother's experience goes, if
(31:55):
you did eat the rest of it. Yeah, yeah, well
let us know, yeah, get us updated on the story
situation everybody else as well. Absolutely, yes, oh yes, well.
Thank you so much to Kenna for writing in. If
you would like to write to us, you can our
emails hello at savorpod dot com, and we're also on
(32:17):
social media.
Speaker 2 (32:17):
You can find us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram at
saber pod and we do hope to hear from you.
Savere is production of iHeartRadio. Four more podcasts from my
Heart Radio. You can visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts,
or wherever you listen to your favorite shows. Thanks as
always to our super producers.
Speaker 1 (32:33):
Dylan Fagan and Andrew Howard.
Speaker 2 (32:35):
Thanks to you for listening, and we hope that lots
more good things are coming your way.
Hello, and welcome to Savor production of iHeartRadio. I'm Annie
Reese and.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
I'm more on Vocal Bam and today we have an
episode for you about dragon fruit.
Speaker 1 (00:17):
Yes we do, oh because I've mentioned Life Day, very
important holiday for me just past. This is the infamous
Star Wars Holiday special nineteen seventy nine where we were
introduced to a Wookie holiday. I would call it Star
(00:40):
Wars Christmas meat Thanksgiving, okay, yeah, but it was presented
in a seventies variety show and it was a ride,
is what we'll say. But I'll also say Life Day
has gone mainstream. There are now like a f things
(01:00):
like not fan made things, official things you could buy
around Life Day. There is a cookbook that I have
and as I was getting ready for Life Day, which
is on November seventeenth, I was perusing this cookbook and
I was looking for something we could talk about that
would be Life Day adjacent. And we've done a lot
of them already, but one ingredient I kept seeing was
(01:23):
dragon fruit. Oh okay, okay, yes, which I suspect is
for it's you know, in heavy quote, so like oh,
the worldly experience. It is a unique looking thing.
Speaker 2 (01:37):
Yeah, they look, they look stunning, honestly, and yes, I
feel like there has been There's definitely been a show
that was not set on this world that I watched
relatively recently in which a nice prop master had just
like put a dragon fruit out on a table and I.
Speaker 1 (01:57):
Was like, huh huh, okay, cool. Yeah, I mean they're
really really beautiful. I don't think I've never bought one.
I've never know to cut one, although I'm eager to
learn more from you, Lauren, but I hear it's not
that hard. It looks like it'd be difficult.
Speaker 2 (02:17):
Yeah, No, I've I've I've purchased exactly one to to
kind of yeah, I was like, what is this about,
Let's find out. And to be honest, the one that
I got wasn't super exciting to me, Like it's again,
very pretty, extremely photogenic, but but the flavor to me
was kind of just bland. But but I've heard that
(02:39):
that's something that a lot of producers are working with
to try to improve and that there is different bridals
that are a little bit more strongly flavored. So or
maybe I just got a dud. I mean, it's natural
product that that can that can happen.
Speaker 1 (02:53):
But yeah, yeah, definitely not.
Speaker 2 (02:55):
Difficult to work with, Like they look like they're going
to give you a lot of trouble, but it was.
Speaker 1 (03:01):
It was.
Speaker 2 (03:02):
I mean, I would liken it to an apple or
orange experience.
Speaker 1 (03:08):
Yeah, well, their their insights are also pretty striking. So
I feel like I have had it in like a
fruit bowl situation, I feel like I've had it. I've
just never personally bought it, cut it, worked with it,
but I think I have had it, And a lot
of descriptions I've read was that it's kind of a
(03:28):
very despite its fabulous appearance, it's kind of a milder taste. Yeah, totally, So,
I don't know. I would love to hear more from
listeners about this. I have not currently made the recipes
I guess clearly from the Life Day book that include
dragon fruit, but I'm interested. I am interested. I like
(03:53):
a good nerdy recipe that we just ordered in because
it was a very busy day.
Speaker 2 (04:00):
Yeah yeah, but but yeah, yeah, yeah, as soon as
you do, you'll have to you'll have to update us well.
Speaker 1 (04:07):
As you know, I have long been threatening, slash cajoling
you too watch the Life Special with me, So perhaps
that will be the day, Yeah, all right, sure, but
in the meantime dragon fruit what is it?
Speaker 2 (04:25):
Well, dragonfruit are the fruit of a type of cactus,
and they do look just really wild, sort of alien
or dragon like, I guess, hence the name. They grow
to about the size of a fist. They're sort of
oval in shape and have the skin that has these
like large spiked, protective waxy leaves enclosing this crisp juicy
(04:51):
kind of look mildly sweet and sour to maybe a
little bit earthy flesh that's shot through with tiny black seeds,
and the lee in the flesh can both come in
stunning colors like deep magenta, like the color out of space,
like absolutely like violet and magenta sometimes with the with
the tips of the leaves green in contrast, and the
(05:15):
flesh can be a similar color too, or a little
bit lighter pinkish or white. But even when it is white,
it's contrast with those black seeds is just so striking.
The flesh is usually what people are going for, though
the leaves and flowers or the skin and flowers are
also edible. That flesh is either eaten raw or processed
(05:36):
into beverages or desserts. It uh, yeah, it looks like
a dragon egg. That's what it looks like. It looks
like the egg of a dragon. And it tastes crisp
and refreshing, like a kind of like a mild pair
with crunchy little seeds, kind of like Kiwi seeds.
Speaker 1 (05:52):
It's it is.
Speaker 2 (05:53):
It is like someone from Props wished real hard for
like a sustainable bit of set dressing that grows on trees. Yeah,
and here the dragon fruit is yep, yeah, there you go.
Or okay, not technically on trees, because yes, botanically, dragon
(06:18):
fruit plants are categorized as a few species within the
highlo serious genus, which is part of the cactus family.
In the Americas, they're sometimes called pataya or pedaaya, which
can lead to a little bit of confusion because there
are some other cactus fruits that go by the same name.
There's also a little bit of confusion about their genus classification.
(06:41):
As we've talked about before, taxonomy is something that scientists
like kind of enjoy arguing about. But in this case,
the plants are not helping because they do cross pollenate easily.
So anyway, yes, this plant is a cactus, and if
you've ever seen what's called a Christmas cactus, although I
(07:03):
don't know why they're called that because their genus name
is Schlumbergera, which is amazing, Like, give me the option
to call something Schlumbergera and I am on top of that.
Speaker 1 (07:19):
Anyway, Christmas cactus.
Speaker 2 (07:21):
The dragon fruit plant looks a little bit like a
version of that that has just gone truly huge, just
absolutely like Jurassic in size. Or if you're familiar with
the orchid cactus, yeah, the dragon fruit plant is closely
related to that. It is a tropical to subtropical cactus
(07:44):
that grows these these thick, fleshy, jointed stems, just like
big old clusters of these flatish ribbed, wavy branches, often
with small spikes coming off of the sides. The number
of ribs on each stem is being pointed to is
a way to distinguish different genera Hilo serious or Salina serious.
(08:08):
That's that's not that's that's more detail than you probably needed,
but I found it fascinating.
Speaker 1 (08:12):
Anyway, here we go.
Speaker 2 (08:16):
They are planted in the ground, but those stems can
grow like twenty feet long, so they're given trellises that
they can climb up along and then kind of drape
back down over and they'll put out aerial roots out
into the trellises, and the overall effect when they reach
full size is like a like a huge draping kind
(08:39):
of meaty fern or like a willow. The plants can
live about thirty years, and once they're mature, they can
produce some hundred kilos that's about two hundred and twenty
pounds of fruit every year. Wow, they do that by Okay.
The tips of the stems might flower during warm months
(09:00):
with these big, pretty fragrant like white cream or maybe
pink flowers. The flowers can grow up to like fourteen
by nine inches that's like thirty five by twenty five centimeters.
Speaker 1 (09:13):
It's big.
Speaker 2 (09:15):
They only open at night, and I think I have
this correct. They open for one night only, yeah, and
thus depend on night pollinators like moths or bats, or
more likely human intervention in order to grow fruit. The
fruit that develops is again oblong, maybe about four and
(09:37):
a half inches or eleven centimeters thick or so. It
comes in four basic varieties. Okay, pinkish red skin with
flesh that's either white, pinkish red, or purple or yellow
skin with flesh that's white. All of them again have
the same small black seeds, and all are relatively mild
in flavor. I've read that the yellow types taste a
(10:00):
little stronger and sweeter. Again, if you've never seen one,
they are stunning. If you have experience with these different varietals,
right in and let us know.
Speaker 1 (10:14):
Yes.
Speaker 2 (10:16):
It is often eaten raw, peeled and diced, or maybe
scooped directly from a halved fruit, and then you know
used however, you use fresh fruit on its own or
in sweet or savory dishes. It's also sold frozen for
these uses, but it can be made into like juice
or wine, or cooked down into jam, or processed into desserts,
(10:37):
especially frozen desserts, and like jellies like gelatins. Yeah but yeah,
the peel is also edible. I understand. It's a little
bit bitter and used perhaps more like processed for color
than for actual flavor. Syrups made from it are used
to color pastries and candies. It's sometimes dried and then
used to steep in hot water as a sort of tea,
(10:59):
or deep fried into chips and eaten as a snack
or topping on other dishes. I know right, speaking of
deep frying, the flowers are also edible, and they can
be cooked like you would cook any kind of soft vegetable,
you know, similarred into a soup or sauteed or battered
in deep fried.
Speaker 1 (11:21):
Sold, sold, all of the above.
Speaker 2 (11:27):
The fruit is also prized as like an ornamental object,
and I've read that it's a symbol of good fortune
in some Chinese cultures in particular again right in Also,
it's extracts, especially those bright pigments, are being investigated for
various uses as a die for foods and cosmetics, and
(11:49):
for potential medicinal properties. Yes, well, what about the nutrition
by itself? Dragon fruit is pretty good you lots of fiber,
little bit of protein, smattering of micronutrients, not too much
sugar As with other vegetation. The more brightly colored they are,
the more like extra nutritional punch ups they're likely to contain.
(12:14):
It's really great for adding crunch and visual interest to
a salad or a yogurt, parfe or other fresh dishes
like that. You know, it'll help fill you up, but
to keep you going. Parrot with a protein and a
fat m.
Speaker 1 (12:29):
Just like dragons do. So I hear we do have
some numbers for you.
Speaker 2 (12:37):
We do, okay. As of this year twenty twenty three,
the global market for dragon fruit was valued at over
fourteen billion dollars in growing Wow. Asia Pacific grows and
consumes the most, but Europe is the fastest growing market segment.
The US imports most of our dragon fruit from Vietnam.
(12:59):
They they are the world's largest producer. They grow about
half of the world's supply of dragon fruit, and we're
not even their largest importer. That honor goes to China,
which imports as much as eighty percent of what Vietnam grows.
Speaker 1 (13:15):
How much was that?
Speaker 2 (13:17):
As of twenty nineteen, I can tell you Vietnam had
about fifty five thousand hectares of land planted with dragonfruit
and was producing some one point two million metric tons
every year.
Speaker 1 (13:29):
Wow hoofed up.
Speaker 2 (13:32):
Also side note, I still cannot get over the fact
that someone named their market research company mortor Intelligence.
Speaker 1 (13:40):
It gets me every time I know, and I feel
like we've never gotten to the bottom of this, But
every time we're like, did they do that? How intentional
was this?
Speaker 2 (13:54):
I you know, I haven't looked that hard because I
kind of don't want to know I just hope it's nerds.
I hope it's nerds. Back to dragon fruit. Other economically
important producers include Thailand, Israel, Mexico, Colombia, and Taiwan. Okay,
(14:17):
there's a couple festivals for dragon fruit here and there.
Twenty twenty three marked the second annual Dragonfruit Festival in
the province of Gamaris in the Philippines. I hope I'm
saying that right.
Speaker 1 (14:31):
I did look it up.
Speaker 2 (14:34):
This is the second year they've held this ten day
agro tourism event in August. Events include a parade with
dragon fruit inspired costumes, farm tours, music, and some like
educational slash business type sessions.
Speaker 1 (14:48):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (14:49):
The area has about twenty eight hector's planted, producing some
fifteen tons of fruit a year. Meanwhile, a small town
in Mexico called Mira Flores held its thirty first annual
bita Aya Festival this year in July. And it features
many kinds of cactus fruits and there's music and foods
(15:12):
like jams and drinks and cherberts made from the fruit.
And a horse cavalcade. Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, big, big
horse rearing area, especially in the past, so yeah.
Speaker 1 (15:28):
Well as always, listeners, please let us know if you've
been any my goodness pictures welcome.
Speaker 2 (15:35):
Yes, yes, anything about those costumes would be excited to
hear about.
Speaker 1 (15:42):
Yes, But we do have a lot of history for
you in the meantime.
Speaker 2 (15:46):
We do, and we are going to get into that
as soon as we get back from a quick break.
For a word from our sponsors, and we're back. Thank
you sponsor, Yes, thank you.
Speaker 1 (16:03):
So the dragon fruit is native to Mexico, Central America,
and South America. This one is kind of a dry
one because it's just the records that they have. But
these records do indicate records from that region that date
back to the thirteenth century, that it was around there,
and that it spread via birds. Producers propagated and cultivated
(16:28):
and experimented with dragonfruit to come up with an edible crop.
But yeah, in the early days, people and birds spread
the seeds to neighboring islands in the Caribbean. But there
are a few popular legends about dragon fruit, Okay, Yes.
One of the most repeated goes like this, thousands of
(16:50):
years ago, when fire breathing dragons breathed their last breath
out would come a dragon fruit. Yeah. If a human
slay a dragon. They would take the fruit and present
it to royalty as proof of their prowess, and the
dragon would be butchered and eaten by soldiers who were
(17:11):
hoping to be granted the dragon's strength. The meat near
the tail, which is where the core of their fire rested,
was the most coveted, and the taste for that meat
is what led to the extinction of dragons. Ah, which
is a cool story. And again it is a very
(17:32):
visually striking fruit. Yeah, I can totally see that.
Speaker 2 (17:38):
Yeah, I would not be surprised if a dragon coughed
went up.
Speaker 1 (17:42):
No, not at all, not at all. As with most things,
colonization and globalization spread dragon fruit production far and wide,
most notably in Asia. The Spanish introduced it to the
Philippines in the sixteenth century. By sixteen forty five it
was in China. The French introduced it to Vietnam and
(18:04):
surrounding areas sometime around eighteen sixty, where, according to some records,
it was first grown exclusively for Vietnam's royal family and
the wealthy.
Speaker 2 (18:16):
It had been introduced to Taiwan before that happened, back
in like the seventeen hundreds or so, but it didn't
become an economic crop until new varieties were reintroduced to
Taiwan from Vietnam.
Speaker 1 (18:29):
A shipment from Mexico heading for China introduced the dragon
fruit to Hawaii in eighteen thirty. Apparently a majority of
the crop had died during transport, and this they were
discarded during a stu Hawaii, but some of them were
still alive and were planted, and then they flourished, yes,
(18:49):
and were at first typically grown as an ornamental crop. Uh.
The first known record of dragon fruits in Florida isn't
until nineteen sixty two, though it probably was being cultivated
there much earlier than that.
Speaker 2 (19:03):
It was not introduced to Israel until the nineteen eighties,
but became a popular commercial crop for export to Europe
due to Israel's proximity to Europe.
Speaker 1 (19:17):
Yes, and beginning in the twentieth century, dragon fruit was
being grown commercially on a wide scale in many places,
including in Southeast Asian countries and even more particularly in Vietnam. Yes.
In other cases it has become naturalized or classified as
an invasive species. Yes. In many places like South Africa
(19:38):
and Brazil, it was introduced as an ornamental plant and
then became invasive.
Speaker 2 (19:43):
Yeah, but right, you know, like the spread of this fruit.
The fruit is a little bit delicate when it's fresh,
which means that as shipping technologies have improved, it's created
interest in new markets, which has then created interest in
new growing areas. As it is or it certainly can
be a high value crop. Each individual fruit may be
(20:06):
sold for like a couple bucks apiece, working out to
like eight dollars or more a pound.
Speaker 1 (20:12):
Right, and there is a lot of interest in this.
I found an article specifically about dragon fruit in California
and San Diego County. So since two thousand and seven,
the Wallace Ranch dragon fruit farm in San Diego County
has hosted a dragon fruit production tour for growers of
(20:33):
all levels in twenty twenty. They did go on hiatus
for two years, but when they opened registration in twenty
twenty two, it sold out in twenty four hours. Yes,
one of the participants said of the event that they
couldn't recall a year when the event didn't sell out.
I believe it's sixty people per tour. But yeah, there's
(20:56):
an excitement and there's people of all levels. Like I said,
there are people who are like, look, to get into it.
There are people who are into it but want to
know more like it's there is an interest for it
for sure.
Speaker 2 (21:07):
Yeah, I mean it's that's awesome. I mean they again,
they're really beautiful, and especially in this our modern era
of like instagrammable foods, I can see where people would
be interested in growing it. The plants are also super pretty,
Like I like looking up photos of these plants, I
was like, do I need to try to grow a
drive for a plant?
Speaker 1 (21:28):
Is that what I'm up to?
Speaker 2 (21:29):
I don't know.
Speaker 1 (21:32):
Yes, so then I can complete my life day feast, which,
by the way, the color of life day is also red.
Oh so yeah, food also kind of fits in that way, yeah,
kind of. Yeah, it's a chase, so sure. Yeah. Oh
(21:54):
well it is like a really I'm not exaggerating at
all that I could see and a lot of like
stories and fairy tales about how it came to be
because it is I know, we've used this word a
couple of times, but it's striking. It is like visually yah. Yeah,
and I love that it only opens up at night
like mad ones. That's wild.
Speaker 2 (22:21):
Yeah, I really I really want to find like a
botanical garden that has like a like a big full
plant and take a take a close up look at it,
because they.
Speaker 1 (22:31):
Sound they sound really amazing. They do, they do. I
want to as well, And you know, listeners as always,
if you've seen one, if you have pictures, if you've
grown one. Yeah, yes, oh my gosh. But I think
that's what we have to say about the Dragon Fruit
for now. It is.
Speaker 2 (22:50):
But we do already have some listener mail for you though,
and we are going to get into that as soon
as we get back from one more quick break for
word from our sponsors, and we're back.
Speaker 1 (23:07):
Thank you, sponsored, Yes, thank you, and we're back with
your school The Last Breath of the Dragon Beautiful. We're
having kind of a goofy recording day. Everybody, we are,
we are life day, you know. Yeah, it's just the joy.
Speaker 2 (23:33):
The joy is just bubbling up out of us instead
of viable sentences. So yes, it's fine, which is sort
of a difficulty for podcasting. Yeah, it's okay.
Speaker 1 (23:44):
I will say this letter, which is another letter we're
pulling in half because it's a little long, but again,
never that's not a bad thing at all. Please keep
the long letters coming. I think also involves something I
could see in a life day situation.
Speaker 3 (23:59):
The diry ah okay okay, yes, Kenner wrote, I write
to you from a place of abject and ignominious defeat.
Speaker 1 (24:10):
I like to consider myself a fairly adventurous eater, and
in fact have been accused of being a human garbage
disposal by my friends. I also have a very strong stomach.
I've worked in science labs with a variety of smells
ranging from pink thinner and hogfarts, so we gold bee
from and slowly rotting in the garbage disposal, and have
still been able to have a hearty lunch. I am
(24:32):
unfazed by liver and onions, weirdly expensive funky cheeses that
I paid too much for on sale to consider throwing out,
and the smell of burnt popcorn, and yet I am defeated.
This morning, my brother and I went shopping at the
local Southeast Asian supermarket. Four ingredients were vegan Thanksgiving lovely
(24:52):
things like mushrooms and black bean paste, baby bakchoi and
extra long green beans, bean sprouts and satan faux beef tips,
sessme oil and curry paste. As I was trying to
remember which per simmons are delicious, and which tastes like
getting a cavity field he saw it, a singular frozen Durian,
(25:13):
cracked open like a spiky seed pod, slightly wilted looking,
but the approximate size of a pineapple. And it was
only seven dollars. My brother's eyes lit up. He went
to Malaysia earlier this year to do fieldwork for his PhD,
and he swore up and down that everyone he met there,
including the American students, loved Durian. They ate it in
(25:34):
the field, they ate it on the bus, They ate
it on the bus to field sites. They ate it fresh,
they ate it in stew, they ate it on rice,
They ate it for breakfast. His PhD is now Durian powered.
I was mildly, mildly dubious. This is a man who
once produced a Mother's Day breakfast of peanut butter and
(25:54):
mustard on burnt joes. I'm willing willingly re engineering a
Thanksgiving feast with him, So it's several years too late
to doubt his ability to create edible food. Plus, I
thought I knew something about Durian. I listened to your
Durian episode way back when, and It was described by
(26:15):
alleged experts as kind of vanilla e kind of custardy,
but with an overwhelmingly funky scent cheesy. I assumed maybe
a bit of the off putting meatiness without substance of
bovine serum albumin, or the lightly plasticy taste of woodier mushrooms.
I remembered garlic and vanilla coming up, and figured that
(26:36):
the combination was probably off putting enough to give Durian
its reputation.
Speaker 2 (26:42):
Kind of continues. I smelled it. It smelled like lightly
sweetened goat cheese with a hint of leaks. Overall mild
enough to keep in an enclosed room with all the
other produce. I figured the intensity of the smell would
increase when the fruit was not frozen, but decided I'd
give it a try. A wee bought it, took it
to my parents' house to thaw. Fast forward to after dinner,
(27:04):
a lovely curry designed to use up whatever was taking
up room in the fridge that wasn't earmarked for the feast.
The Durian a left in my parents' covered porch for
several hours, had thawed. Friends, the smell of the Durian
did not increase. It changed completely for something so polarizing.
It's a weirdly light scent, but it's not sweet or
(27:26):
herbal or any scent that most people would name. Instead
of smelling like a cheese that didn't know if it
was sweeter savory, or like rotting fruit or compost or
eggs or anything that had ever been living, it smelled
like a gas leak and not the rotten egg smell
of natural gas. It smelt like pumping gas into a
(27:47):
rusted out barrel. It smelled like like the dirty bunsen
burners in my high school chemistry lab. It smelt like
a hundred years worth of tin cans being bathed in
lighter fluid. It smelled like someone pickled a rotting leak
and kerosene indescribable ah. It smells like the inside of
an oil lamp that someone dissolved plato in. It smells
(28:11):
like a reminder that vanilla on its own doesn't actually
taste sweet. It smells like I could strike a match
in front of my face and breathe fire. And it
tastes like if you removed all the flavor molecules from
a banana at the cellular level, turned it into a
pudding and let it sit in a metal tray at
a buffet for a week until it developed a pudding
(28:31):
skin more durable than plastic wrap. Also, the seed in
the middle of each lobe feels strangely compressed, like a
little puck of laminate flooring. I had one lobe the
approximate size of an apricot. I tried washing my hands
and mouth. I tried saltwater gargle. I tried mince. I
(28:54):
tried salsa. I tried pickles. I tried inserting my nose
directly into a bottle of homemade salad dressing. Nothing worked,
because once you have eaten the Durian, the smell lives
inside your sinuses and lungs like it pays rent. Every
so often it will waft back through your brain like
a chemical spill. That damn durian is sitting on my parents'
(29:18):
porch table like a curse, because my brother insists he's
going to finish eating it, even though it is and
I quote, not a good Durian. I have retired to
google whether it is safe to put toothpaste into your nostrils.
Happy Thanksgiving, This is a work of art. Thank you,
(29:41):
Oh my goodness. Oh wow, very descriptive. Thank you Kenna,
Thank you Annie for giving me that to read.
Speaker 1 (29:51):
That was lovely. Oh my goodness, that's beautiful, so good,
very dramatic, felt like reading a horror story. I loved it.
Uh wow, oh holy heck. It's hard to say, you know,
because we still haven't I haven't had any Yeah, I
don't think.
Speaker 2 (30:11):
Yeah, not certainly, not fresh or previously frozen, you know.
Like I like, like I had a little bit of
like a little like like packaged pastry, like like a
little uh like like puff pastry twist that had some
like Durian like jam in it, but that that is
clearly a different experience than this, because I was kind
(30:34):
of like, why does this jam taste like garlic?
Speaker 1 (30:36):
And like?
Speaker 2 (30:36):
But that was like, that was all I really felt
about it.
Speaker 1 (30:41):
I'm a little worried that you will be haunted by
this Durian for the rest of your life. To be honest,
I know it sounds. I mean, it's lurking. It knows
you now, it does, it does. And you've tried all
of these things, very creative solutions, desperate solutions, and that
(31:05):
didn't work. So I don't know, Well, I hope the
rest of your meals go well during the holidays.
Speaker 2 (31:19):
Yeah, I hope that something eventually. I hope that it's
like a like like getting a song stuck in your
head kind of and that like eventually you kind of
get it out and like, yeah, maybe it'll pop back,
but like less less intensely every time, you know.
Speaker 1 (31:32):
Right, and you know, maybe one day you'll try a
different Durian and it'll be a good Durian or maybe it'll
be the same. That's the curse of the d I
would love to hear how your brother's experience goes, if
(31:55):
you did eat the rest of it. Yeah, yeah, well
let us know, yeah, get us updated on the story
situation everybody else as well. Absolutely, yes, oh yes, well.
Thank you so much to Kenna for writing in. If
you would like to write to us, you can our
emails hello at savorpod dot com, and we're also on
(32:17):
social media.
Speaker 2 (32:17):
You can find us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram at
saber pod and we do hope to hear from you.
Savere is production of iHeartRadio. Four more podcasts from my
Heart Radio. You can visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts,
or wherever you listen to your favorite shows. Thanks as
always to our super producers.
Speaker 1 (32:33):
Dylan Fagan and Andrew Howard.
Speaker 2 (32:35):
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