Durian as Davao's King of Fruits (Davao del Sur, Philippines)

Along the roads of Davao del Sur, south of Davao City, you will sometimes find these makeshift stands selling Durian when they are in season. There are plenty of varieties, but the most popular and reliable is the Puyat variety which has milky meat, smaller seeds, and they're easier to break open. In this collection, there's a "Coob". Other varieties include "Puyat" (the gold standard), "Arancillo", "Basketball", "Malaysian", "Tiane", and a new one which I can't remember. A whole fruit will set you back between $3 to $5 per piece depending on the size during off-peak to as low as P40/piece if it's in season. 

Durian contains vitamins such as Vitamin C, folic acid, thiamine, riboflavin, niacin, B6 and vitamin A. Also found in durian are important minerals such as as potassium, iron, calcium, magnesium, sodium, zinc, and phosphorus. It also contains nutrients such as phytonutrients, water, protein and beneficial dietary fiber.

Contrary to popular belief that it causes spikes in cholesterol, durian has good monounsaturated fats that can lower your harmful cholesterol levels and moderate your high blood pressure.

The durians in this photo come from a small farming town near Cotabato. Now imagine how much easier it would be if places like these didn't send red flags?

Rattan Fruits in Davao - Of Violin Dyes and Dragon's Blood

Rattan Fruit or Littuko is a rarity in Southeast Asia. I've traveled all over the region and hardly see the "fruits" in abundance. It's scaly, as though they come from snakes or some other reptile. You peel them like you do with lansones and out pops a triumvirate of clustered pods with the sourest taste this side of Datu Puti. While I love fruits, these are another matter. 

Online research reveals that, and I quote, "The fruit of some rattans exudes a red resin called dragon's blood. This resin was thought to have medicinal properties in antiquity and was also used as a dye for violins, among other things." Red resin, I didn't notice, except for the stains at the bottom of the fruit stalk, but the fruit inside is fleshy, almost transparent. "Dragon's blood" sounds interesting though, and I'd love to know the origin of such terms.

I'd probably acquire the taste after a hundred pieces. But allow me not to wait for a hundred.

This is the Eye in the Sky! 

The Market Scene in Digos (Digos, Davao del Sur)

As a child, the market wasn't a place of interest. I wasn't encouraged to visit it. It was congested, wet, hot and not the most pleasant place. Fast forward to 2015, I find market visits fascinating because you'll never know what to expect to find - the fruits in season, the flowers peddled, the food stuff available and its slew of very transient characters.

Digos City, some two hours south of Davao City, doesn't feel like a very cosmopolitan place, to be honest. The surroundings seem more rural.

Yellow pedicabs congest the clogged-up streets; one of the "ugliest" road scene I have noticed this side of the Philippines. I have heard that General Santos City is the same. Just the same, I don't like the clutter. The whole road system looks chaotic - no traffic lights and yellow tricycles that zoom away as they please. If this is a sign of urban development, then I'd have to say it is one ugly heck of development. But this is just my opinion.

The market scene on the other hand, fascinates. Let's take the case of a flower vendor who offers 3 roses for just PhP25. Huh? Where in the Philippines do you get red roses, three of 'em, as cheap as that? A trio of anthuriums costs PhP15. Can they get any cheaper?


STARK CONTRAST

Then there's a row of fruits selling golden mangoes (PhP55 to 60 per kilo), avocados, bananas (PhP25-35 per kilo), and the seasonal star apple ("kaymito") at PhP25 per kilo. What's interesting is, when I bought 2 kilos of star apples in SM Megamall's supermarekt, they fetched a hefty PhP150 per kilo, and they're not even half as sweet as these 25-peso Digos kaymitos.

Elsewhere, a mangosteen, not in season, costs PhP280 per kilo. Yes, they're plump and juicy, sweet-and-tad-sour wonder, but is almost a king's ransom. When they taste this heavenly, who cares about the cost?

This is the Eye in the Sky!

Very sweet star apples ("caymito", also shown below).

Star apple is also called caimito, abiaba, pomme de lait, milk fruit and aguay. In Vietnam, it is called "vu su'a" which literally means "breast milk". It is "swarnapathry" in Malayalam. There are 3 varieties in terms of color: purple, greenish brown and the very rare yellow which I still have yet to see. The green ones are very sweet. The fruit has anti-oxidant properties.

Mangosteen