When I was an exchange student living in Germany, my favorite gelato flavor was maracuja. It had a tangy, sweet-but-tart character that made it refreshing and intriguing at the same time. Imagine my ecstatic happiness when I discovered maracuja juice at the local grocery store! “I’ve got to figure out what this is so that I can find it when I get back home,” I thought, and started flipping through my German-English language dictionary. “‘Maracuja’ (Grm): ‘maracuja’ (Eng)” it said. I was stumped…until I thought to look in a Spanish-English dictionary. “Maracuja’ (Spn): ‘passionfruit’ (Eng),” it said. Ah-hah!
This small purple fruit grows in South America but is enjoyed all over the world (although I’ve yet to find it as a gelato flavor in the States). Ripe passionfruit has an exotic perfume and a wrinkly skin; its seeds are crunchy, tangy, and have loads of visual appeal. You can scoop out the seeds and eat them as they are or spoon them over baked meringues, frozen dairy/soy cream, or cake to create a stunning dessert. Passionfruit juice makes any smoothie taste tropical and any cocktail a smash hit. It’s also a great source of vitamin C, vitamin A, and potassium.
You might also want to save the scooped-out skins for decorative purposes–they dry beautifully and can be used as centerpiece elements anywhere in your home.
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Tags: exotic fruit, passionfruit, tropics
