My Autobiography: David Balleza K(C)atague: Durian-- Smells Like Hell But Taste Like Heaven

Thursday, September 15, 2022

Durian-- Smells Like Hell But Taste Like Heaven

I was shopping on line via Doordash the other day. I learned that fresh frozen durian is available at 99 Ranch Market at fairly reasonable price($17.29) for the above package. I have not tasted the fresh fruit, but enjoyed the fresh frozen vacuum packed because the smell is not that overpowering.

Durian is a tropical fruit and sometimes known as the King of Fruits. A lot of fans of the fruit describes it as a fruit that smells like hell but tastes like heaven. I agree! For complete description of the fruit see the information from Wikipedia at the bottom of this page.

The other item I purchased at 99 Ranch Market was Pia Cake($4.99)of mung bean and Durian imported from Vietnam. There are 4 cakes in the package. It is similar to the Filipino Hopia. I enjoyed this dessert with mango sorbet( photo below).

Here my other purchases from 99 Ranch Market-grocery store specializing on Asian Foods, Sea Foods and Groceries-

Here an article on the 7 Health Benefits of Durian

1. Durian makes you happy

The yummy durian flesh is not the only reason for that smile on your face. This decadent fruit actually has happy chemicals to make you feel good.

Durian contains the amino acid tryptophan which gets converted to serotonin, a neurotransmitter that induces feelings of happiness and relaxation. So your mood naturally improves after eating durian.

2. Durian helps to regulate sleep

Surprise, surprise, the king of fruits can make you sleep better. Tryptophan (an essential amino acid) in durian is converted to melatonin, a hormone that controls your sleep cycle. The higher your melatonin levels, the easier it is to fall asleep. If you have trouble snoozing, swop your usual bedtime snack for durian – just one seed is enough! Remember to gurgle away the durian breath thoroughly after that.

3. Durian helps to control blood pressure

Durian is rich in potassium, an electrolyte that helps to maintain blood pressure levels. High blood pressure, also known as hypertension, can lead to several health complications such as heart disease, stroke and kidney failure. According to latest stats from the Ministry of Health, almost one in four Singapore residents aged 30 to 69 has hypertension.

4. Durian is an excellent source of energy

Durian is great as a pre-workout snack. It’s high in carbohydrates, which gives a quick release of energy to keep you going strong during exercise.

Two medium seeds (54g) contain 89 calories, and give you almost the same amount of carbohydrates as a medium banana.

5. Durian improves bone health

Iron and copper are minerals that are essential for strong bones. And durian is rich in those minerals. A study by the National Centre For Biotechnology Information showed that having a higher iron intake helped to increase bone density, whereas higher calcium intake had a negligible effect on bones.

6. Durian can give you good skin

With 11.6mg of vitamin C per serving (two medium seeds), durian contains more vitamin C than most tropical fruits. Vitamin C has antioxidant properties to fight free radicals in your body, thus reducing the appearance of pigmentation and wrinkles.

Environmental factors like exposure to cigarette smoke and ultraviolet rays from the sun causes free radical damage to the skin.

7. Durian increases sex drive

Durian is known to be a libido-boosting food among Asians. In fact, there’s a well-known traditional Indonesian saying: When the durians fall, the sarong goes up.

Even if durian doesn’t improve your libido significantly, it contains many vitamins and minerals that are great for your overall well-being.

Reference: https://www.herworld.com/life/wellness/7-surprising-benefits-eating-durian-king-fruits-health-blood-pressure-sleep-libido/

From Wikipedia: Durian is the edible fruit of several tree species belonging to the genus Durio. There are 30 recognised Durio species, at least nine of which produce edible fruit. Durio zibethinus, native to Borneo and Sumatra, is the only species available in the international market. It has over 300 named varieties in Thailand and 100 in Malaysia, as of 1987. Other species are sold in their local regions. Durians are commonly associated with Southeast Asian cuisine, especially in Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam.

Named in some regions as the "king of fruits", the durian is distinctive for its large size, strong odour, and thorn-covered rind. The fruit can grow as large as 30 centimetres (12 inches) long and 15 cm (6 in) in diameter, and it typically weighs 1 to 3 kilograms (2 to 7 pounds). Its shape ranges from oblong to round, the colour of its husk green to brown, and its flesh pale yellow to red, depending on the species.

An acquired taste, some people regard the durian as having a pleasantly sweet fragrance, whereas others find the aroma overpowering and unpleasant. The smell evokes reactions from deep appreciation to intense disgust, and has been described variously as rotten onions, turpentine, and raw sewage. The persistence of its odour, which may linger for several days, led certain hotels and public transportation services in Southeast Asia to ban the fruit. The nineteenth-century British naturalist Alfred Russel Wallace described its flesh as "a rich custard highly flavoured with almonds". The flesh can be consumed at various stages of ripeness, and it is used to flavour a wide variety of savoury and sweet desserts in Southeast Asian cuisines. The seeds can also be eaten when cooked.

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Highlights of My Professional Career

In my more than 40 years of professional career, I have experienced both working rank and file, as well as supervising the work of subordinates. I have worked in four private firms and the Federal Government, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), where I retired. I enjoyed the challenges and difficulties of both types of job situations. This is the highlights of my work experience story.

My first job after completing my doctorate degree was a Chemist for Chemagro Corporation in Kansas City, Missouri. It was a subsidiary of Bayer Corporation, a German conglomerate. I worked for the analytical chemistry department comprised of about fifty people; half that number was either chemists or biologists. My specific task was to develop analytical methods for the detection of pesticide residues in plant and animal tissues. I worked on my own, similar to six other bench chemists, and we all reported to the same supervisor.

The firm sponsored my visa conversion from a student to a permanent resident, and I was able to legally work and reside in the United States with my family. The company generously took care of its employees. At the end of each successful year, everyone received a 13th month salary bonus. The employees and their families celebrated wonderful annual Christmas parties in a downtown Kansas City hotel, with dancing and free drinks for the whole night.

Inasmuch as I enjoyed and loved working for Chemagro for five years, I found a new job which offered a substantially higher pay. Due to my exemplary work performance, my supervisor preferred and lobbied for me to stay with the company. I had to turn him down because they could not match the package presented by my new employer. It was also a chance for me and my family to move and live in the US west coast, where the mild winter climate is bearable compared to the Midwest.

My next job was at the agricultural research division of Shell Development Company in Modesto, California. I was a Research Chemist, and again I worked individually, same as five other chemists who all reported to a supervisor. My specific duty was similar to my previous job. I worked for them for five years, until the company decided to get out of the pesticide business. They closed their research facility affecting the jobs of more than 200 employees.

My third industrial job was with the agricultural research division of Stauffer chemical company, located in Richmond, California. I was a Senior Research Chemist doing the same project as my two previous jobs. I worked for twelve continuous years for the company, with outstanding annual job performance. I became a Principal Research Chemist, the highest attainable non-supervisory position.

One day in 1986, my supervisor informed me that my job had been eliminated, and I had one day to vacate the facility. It was the most dreadful lay off experience in my life. I felt anger, sadness and humiliation to be dismissed from work with one day notice, after all the years of hard work invested for the company. This was an unforgettable incident and was the gloomiest point in my professional career.
The company terminated sixty research employees, who were upset of the bad news.

One of the chemists was distressed and expressed his outrageous anger by threatening the company and its workers. He told his supervisor of his intention to bomb and burn down the laboratory. He was immediately escorted by the security staff out of the building and into his car. He was informed to leave behind his personal belongings; they will be mailed to his residence. He was warned never to show up again near the company premises or risk getting arrested.

My supervisor was kind and allowed me to take my time to pack up my belongings. It took me two days to clear up my workplace, after toiling for a long period in the same jobsite. We were provided clerical help and office space, in preparation to look for another job, such as updating our resumes, and using the computer and copy machine. We were given six weeks of separation pay plus benefits.

Fortunately, with the help of a friend who is a Church parishioner, I found another job thirty days after leaving Stauffer chemical company. He hired me as a senior research chemist and as a group leader with two technicians to supervise. It was in the same field as my expertise in my previous three jobs spanning the last twenty one years. My new employer was Chevron Chemical Company, and which was located in the same area as my former employer.

This job gave me the introduction and basic knowledge of managing the work of subordinates. I worked for Chevron Company for four and a half years. The company decided to consolidate their research facilities in Texas, and lay off all its research employees. This time I had enough distress and agony from working, and eventually getting laid off from several private companies. To avoid going through any more miserable layoffs, I made a vow that I would never again work for a private company.

In my work experiences, there were noticeable and unavoidable jobsite occurrences. One can never miss the office romantic relationships between co-workers, both illicit and permitted. Though it was frowned upon, there was a boss and staff relationship, which was used as a ploy to get ahead in the company. Some relationships had chemistry, no pun intended, but some never worked out. Oftentimes, there was a sense of distrust among bench chemists for some workers who unjustly obtained preferred work assignments.

Some employees resorted to bribing superiors to get special privileges, such as being able to attend choice conferences and meetings in exciting venues or locations. Likewise, politics was always present at the worksites. It was during an era when various forms of harassment, equal opportunity and discrimination laws were not yet enforced in the workplace. Occasionally, an unexpected chemical explosion happens in a laboratory setting, where luckily no one got seriously hurt.

In the three private companies I worked for, I was able to publish scientific journals for some of the research studies and analytical methods which I developed for the respective companies of Chemagro, Shell Development and Stauffer.

After deciding and making a vow to avoid working in the private sector, I made my new goal which was either to work for the state of California, or the Federal government in Washington, D.C. Four months after I lost my job in Chevron, I was lucky and joyful to be hired by the Food and Drug Administration as a review chemist in the fall of 1990.

In 1994 I was promoted as an Expert Research Chemist with a GS-14 rating. My expertise was on Anti-malarial and Anti-parasitic drug products. In 1997, I was again deservingly promoted to Chemistry team leader, supervising the work of six Chemistry reviewers including five with doctorate degrees.

As team leader, I was responsible for prioritizing, assigning, and assuring the technical accuracy of all chemistry, manufacturing and control issues for all new drug applications submitted to the Division of Anti-Infective Drug Products, Center of New Drugs.

It was part of my responsibility to give advice, instruct and promote high morale and teamwork in my group. My work in the FDA is confidential, until the drug patent on the products I worked on has expired. There are manufacturing supplements that I have approved that are now open for the public in the Internet.

In 1998, I won the Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) Award. The citation reads, “For outstanding accomplishments in fostering the objectives of the EEO Program by hiring minorities and encouraging their professional growth while providing excellent leadership.” I have received numerous certificates of appreciation, awards in leadership and communications, commendation for teamwork and excellence in the accomplishment of the FDA mission. I have also received several letters of appreciation from private industry for my review work.

There are many good things working as rank and file while enjoying doing one’s job individually. It is a humbling, satisfying and productive experience, if one can work in harmony with one’s immediate supervisor. Working individually develops one’s skills in goal setting and scheduling. But in general, the financial rewards are less than a person who has supervisory responsibilities.

Managing the work of others has its challenges. Moreover, it develops one’s skill in handling and developing people, and the compensation rewards and benefits are better. Due to additional duties, responsibilities and leadership, supervisory work can be more stressful than working as a subordinate. However, supervisory jobs give one more personal growth and satisfaction, based on my personal experience. My work in FDA as a team leader managing the work of six scientists had been the happiest and rewarding work experience in my career in Chemistry. You might also like: