So much is the rarer variety of durian, considered a delicacy in much of Southeast Asia. Its price is equivalent to three times the average salary of a local resident
It costs three times the average salary of an Indonesian: the durian, considered the most stinking fruit of the way, in the variety "J-Queen", is sold to one thousand dollars (about 875 euros), in Indonesia. And its stratospheric price is triggering a series of controversies.
This rare variety of durian is sold in a shopping center in Tasikmalaya, west of the island of Java. It is packed in transparent boxes closed with a red satin ribbon and decorated with fake flowers. On the card the price is indicated: about 14 million rupees, when the average monthly salary in Indonesia, according to data from the Ministry of Labor, is about 3.94 million rupees.
Nobody buys it (it seems that only two have been bought, since it is on sale in the Plaza Asia shopping mall), but many locals go to the supermarket just to go a selfie together with the fruit, considered a delicacy in much of Southeast Asia.
The expensive "J-Queen" variety was developed by a 32-year-old Indonesian psychologist, Aka, who claims to have created a new and rare version of the durian crossing two superior varieties from different regions of Indonesia.
The "J-Queen" tree, he says, bears fruit only once every three years and its durians have a "taste of butter and peanuts". They are not oblong in shape, like the most common varieties, but round and golden yellow. "My intention was to improve the living conditions of farmers, creating top-level durians," Aka told the Indonesian news site Tribunnews, before revealing to have durian crops throughout Java. "I have it in Kendal, Pekalongan, Banyumas, Pangandaran and Gunung Tanjung, Manonjaya, Tasikmalaya."
The local farmers, however, say they have never heard of this supposedly unique variety, and confirm that the most rare and top quality Indonesian durians, the Montong and Kumbokarno varieties, they are normally sold for around 200,000 rupees, around 12.5 euros. Which for a fruit is not so bad.
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