IEEE Spectrum June, 2013 - 4

BacK StorY_
editor in chief

Susan Hassler, s.hassler@ieee.org
executive editor

Glenn Zorpette, g.zorpette@ieee.org
editorial director, digital

Harry Goldstein, h.goldstein@ieee.org
managing editor

Elizabeth A. Bretz, e.bretz@ieee.org
senior art director

Mark Montgomery, m.montgomery@ieee.org
senior editors

Jean Kumagai, j.kumagai@ieee.org
Samuel K. Moore (News), s.k.moore@ieee.org
Tekla S. Perry, t.perry@ieee.org
Philip E. Ross, p.ross@ieee.org
David Schneider, d.a.schneider@ieee.org
senior associate editors

Steven Cherry, s.cherry@ieee.org
Erico Guizzo, e.guizzo@ieee.org
deputy art director Brandon Palacio
photo & multimedia editor Randi Silberman Klett
associate art director Erik Vrielink

A Culinary Quest in Malaysia

associate editors

Ariel Bleicher, a.bleicher@ieee.org
Rachel Courtland, r.courtland@ieee.org
Joshua J. Romero (Digital), j.j.romero@ieee.org
Eliza Strickland, e.strickland@ieee.org
assistant editor Willie D. Jones, w.jones@ieee.org
senior copy editor Joseph N. Levine, j.levine@ieee.org
copy editor Michele Kogon, m.kogon@ieee.org
editorial researcher Alan Gardner, a.gardner@ieee.org
assistant producer, spectrum digital Celia Gorman,
celia.gorman@ieee.org

hen Associate Editor Ariel Bleicher checked into her hotel
in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, several months ago, she was
confronted at her room door by a pair of signs. The first read
"No Pets." The second, perplexing one, which depicted what
looked like a thorny, head-size melon, said "No Durians."
Bleicher had traveled to Malaysia to interview a group of
researchers working to bring precision farming technologies to
community rice growers [see "Farming by the Numbers," in this
issue]. And because she was there to write about food, she was determined to
sample as much local cuisine as possible. So when the researchers picked her
up to drive her to the paddy fields, she asked, "Where can I find a durian?"
The researchers chuckled. If she was willing to eat a durian, they
suggested, she might also enjoy such other regional specialties as wild
rooster, porcupine, or chicken feet.
As the group drove south from Kuala Lumpur, they passed plantations of
chestnut, coconut, cocoa, and oil-palm trees. When the rice paddies came
into view, Bleicher noticed several windowless concrete buildings towering
above the green fields. The researchers explained that many farmers
supplement their income by harvesting swiftlet nests, which the birds
construct with saliva on the buildings' walls and rafters. Malaysians export
the nests mainly to China, where bird's nest soup is a delicacy.
At the end of the day, the group stopped at a roadside grill. They shared
roast mentarang (a kind of local oyster) and a pitcher of fresh coconut milk.
To Bleicher's disappointment, they didn't find any durians that day. It was too
bad, the researchers lamented, because "durian is the king of fruit." Its sweet,
cakelike flesh is so delectable that Malaysians will eat two or more in one
sitting, they explained. But the fruit's pungent smell, like a ripe cheese, is often
a turnoff to foreigners and has gotten it banned from hotels and public depots.
Bleicher says she did finally get to try a durian before leaving the country.
"I could barely eat one bite," she confesses. "It was like trying to enjoy a
cupcake with your nose in a gym sock." n

Jun 2013

north american

SPectrum.ieee.orG

f.ferorelli@ieee.org

Sharon Basco
Francesco Ferorelli,

administrative assistants

Ramona Foster, r.foster@ieee.org
Nancy T. Hantman, n.hantman@ieee.org
contributing editors

Evan Ackerman, Mark Anderson, John Blau, Stephen Cass,
Robert N. Charette, Peter Fairley, Mark Harris, David
Kushner, Robert W. Lucky, Paul McFedries, Prachi Patel,
Richard Stevenson, William Sweet, Lawrence Ulrich, Paul Wallich
director, periodicals production services Peter Tuohy
editorial & Web production manager Roy Carubia
senior electronic layout specialist Bonnie Nani
spectrum online
lead developer Kenneth Liu
Web production coordinator Jacqueline L. Parker
multimedia production specialist Michael Spector
editorial advisory board

Susan Hassler, Chair; Gerard A. Alphonse, Marc T. Apter, Francine
D. Berman, Jan Brown, Jason Cong*, Raffaello D'Andrea, Kenneth
Y. Goldberg, Susan Hackwood, Bin He, Erik Heijne, Charles H.
House, Chenming Hu*, Christopher J. James, Ruby B. Lee, John
P. Lewis, Tak Ming Mak, Carmen S. Menoni, David A. Mindell,
C. Mohan, Fritz Morgan, Andrew M. Odlyzko, Larry L. Smarr, Harry
L. Tredennick III, Sergio Verdú, Jeffrey M. Voas, William Weihl,
Kazuo Yano, Larry Zhang*
* Chinese-language edition
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06.13

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Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of IEEE Spectrum June, 2013