The Durian of Kayu Tanam

Durian season has come to the West Sumatra. Strong durian aroma would seize your nose when you enter the Kayu Tanam area in Padang Pariaman Regency, 50 kilometers from downtown Padang. The month of June and July are the peak of durian season in the regency.
 
Rows of durian vendors were seen along the Padang-BukitTinggi highway. Many of the travelers stopped by the vendors just to have a juicy bite of the spike-skinned fruit.
“Durian season started few days before the fasting month,” said one of durian vendors, Erwan (63 years old).

Erwan, who also known as Pak Uwa, sold his durian starting from Rp15,000 for medium size to Rp20,000 for bigger sizes. The smaller sized durians were sold from Rp7,500 to Rp10,000.

“If one to buy many, the price will be different,” he explained.

Besides selling his durian per fruit, Pak Uwa also sold the durian in bunches of 10 to 15 durian fruits. The price ranged from Rp75,000 to Rp200,000 per bunch depending on the quality.

Durian from Kayu Tanam is also famous in other part of West Sumatra such as Padang and Bukittinggi. However, the durian from Kayu Tanam is sold for more expensive price in other regions.

In Padang, durian from Kayu Tanam can be found in Jl dr Wahidin Sisingamangaraja. Guests would see sitting on the floor which is covered with carpet or mats. In this street, durians are served with a plate of sticky rice.

People from outside of West Sumatra also favor durians from Kayu Tanam.

“People from Riau have bought large amount of this durian. They bought 300 fruits,” Pak Uwa said adding that in the beginning of the durian season, they could sell up to 500 of durians in a single day,

The 21-year-old Yogi, a fan of durian, said that the durians from Kayu Tanam are delicate and cheaper.

“The meat is thick and it taste sweet,” said Yogi who purposely came to Padang just to taste the distinctive durian of Kayu Tanam.

Source : Tempo