About the fruit, I ask you...

[butterflydreaming]

The Seattle group has had some recent introductions to a bunch of odd fruits, and it occurred to me that a lot of you (who aren't in N. America) probably know about a lot of fruit we'd call Odd...


The dagwey jam that shellyinseattle just mentioned is what made me think of it. I work with a gal from Hawaii, and we've talked about breadfruit. My parents mention things from El Salvador, like maranoñes, and platanos (plantains), of course. And growing up in a warmer region, we had some different fruit in our garden, like pomegranites, kumquats, figs, and persimmons.

I've had pomelos, tangelos, minneolas, satsuma mandarins... papaya, starfruit, kiwi, tamarind... medjool dates... pears, plums, apricots, apples, oranges, blood oranges (okay, I've only heard of them), lemons, Meyer lemons, limes... fresh currants... blackberries, strawberries, wild strawberries, raspberries, black caps, thimbleberries, salmonberries... prickly pear fruit... kalamata olives... an assortment of melons... .

So, tell me about some other ones. What do they look like, taste like? How are they usually eaten? (In Central America, oranges are eaten with salt. Do that in front of most Americans, and they'll think you're a nutcase.) I see durian in a lot of supermarkets, but I've heard that it smells/tastes like rotting garbage. (?!)

And if you don't know any odd fruits, how about an odd vegetable or dessert dish?

I really have to remember to eat breakfast *before* turning on the computer! But I had cup of coffee and a chocolate coconut scone (from Coffee to a Tea with Sugar -- yeah, that's their name) out, this morning, and while I was eating got a writing urge. Alas, I had foolishly left all writing materials at home! (That'll teach me. Notebook, in car.) Drafted out a creepy little story, and when I came to a pause, I heard the siren call of LJ. {looks at icon} I could totally go for an onigiri right now. Or just a bowl of plain sticky rice.

Comments

[elihice.livejournal.com]

Excuse while I laugh at the idea of platanos being strange fruits. Here, it's the cheaper and easiest one to find.

Lets see... I won't be able to translate most of the names because... they have no translation...

Lucuma, a green fruit (on the outside) with orange pulp on the inside. It's used for desserts and specially ice cream. It tastes amazingly good with chocolate so most of the desserts are a combination of the two. It's sweet and soft.

Camu-camu, a fruit from the Amazon that's a little hard to find on big cities. It's smaller than a golf ball, but has more vitamin C than two oranges... (or so they say...I just can say that it tastes pretty well)

And finally...lemons. No, really. What we call lemons here is the citric lemon, size of a golf ball, dark green and EXTREMELY extra sour. I've tasted one of those yellow lemons and they tasted like oranges to me.

[butterflydrming.livejournal.com]

I laugh at the idea of platanos being strange fruits

That's why I listed apples. I figured that what was exotic to some was common to others. ^_^

3 fruits, cool. Oh, I wish that I could get my hands on one of those lemons! Yum!

[rainmage.livejournal.com]

What about mangoes? I like those. I can't remember if they're sweet or acid, though. It's been a while since I've eaten them. They're juicy, that I remember.

Passionfruits (or is it passion fruits?). My mom eats them with a spoon, they have a lot of seeds in the pulp. It's acid with a twist of sweet (not much). I love the juice, the fruit not so much.

[butterflydrming.livejournal.com]

Oh, I forgot about those two. Mangos are definitely sweet... well, no. You can eat those green, too, and there are a bunch of varieties. But we do get a big sweet kind (and a tiny sweet "honey" mango) here, even in Seattle supermarkets. Like avocados, they ripen better further south.

I don't remember actually eating passionfruit, but we had a vine growing on the border of our backyard. Plus, it's a popular flavor in tea and italian sodas and such.

Have you ever seen tagua? It's a big spiky ball. I don't know if there's anything about it that you can eat, but the nuts are carved as a substitute for ivory.

[rainmage.livejournal.com]

Nope, I don't even know tagua. I guess it's not a Venezuelan kind of fruit.

Other fruits I came up to (I haven't tasted them, but they are sold normally there): guayaba or guava (pic (http://www.mobot.org/education/05actforkidsnfamilies/onlineactivites/tropicalfeast/feast/jpegs/jguava.jpg)), and guanábana or soursop (pic (http://www.juicexpress.se/pics/Guanabana1.jpg)). Guanábanas are kind of spikey, maybe those are the ones you mean?

At least with guayabas they make a traditional sweet snack.

[butterflydrming.livejournal.com]

Taguas are bigger than soccer balls. (!) I thought they were from S.America, but probably more around Peru, I guess. {shrugs} Actually, I've had guava/guayabas, too (in Hawaii and as juice). Jeez, I guess I've been really priveleged! I guess it's because I'm not afraid of food and I've lived in big cities...

[amheriksha.livejournal.com]

Ah... Lychee?

I'm not sure if it's a fruit or not, and I've never actually eaten one, but the artificial flavor is great! ^^

*is addicted to Ramune soda, which is flavored with Lychee*

[butterflydrming.livejournal.com]

Oh yes! Lychee is one of my favorite! We can get it here sometimes (at the Market or Uwajimaya) fresh, even (not just canned). I'll make you almond float one of these days, okay? It's like a dessert "soup" made with lychee and all kinds of yummy sweet fruit.

[amheriksha.livejournal.com]

0_0 Oooh, sounds great!