Okay, I’ll admit it — I’ve been shallow. For years, I’ve avoided the ugli fruit because it was called an ugli fruit. (And because it didn’t look weird enough. I get so curious about strange foods I’ve never seen before that I would happily try something called “ugly” as long as it looked weird enough.)
I [...]
Tapas, flamenco, red wine, olive oil, ham, Manchego cheese…and snake fruit. Those are my overriding impressions from a recent trip to Spain. I hadn’t expected to find rambutans and snake fruit in the mercado central, but I was overjoyed when I spotted the bins of frutas exóticas — ever since I’d gotten my first glimpse [...]
An intriguing sweet flavor, sturdy packaging, and sheer weirdness–those attributes describe my idea of an appealing fruit. Rambutans and lychees (and longans, a.k.a. “dragon eyes”) get outstanding marks in all three categories. If you can find fresh ones, snap them up–they’re worth the high price. Besides, just having two or three is a fun gastronomic [...]
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 [...]
When the weather gets chilly, the chilled make drinks with umbrellas in them so that we can pretend we’re lounging on a Caribbean beach…or at least imagine ourselves on a cruise ship heading towards the islands. The beauty of this drink is that you can make it as an exotic wake-me-up or add rum [...]
Persimmons are an exotic and versatile fall/winter fruit. Their bright-orange flesh and mildly-sweet flavor means they’re equally at home adorning a salad or sliced and served plain. They’re also sturdy enough to be sauteéd and are a particularly good match for chicken. Try adding a peeled and cored persimmon to [...]
What a curious word; it sounds downright Lewis-Carrollian. It would fit well into his “Jabberwocky” poem: “‘Beware the kumquats, my son!’” (Also an excellent word to know when playing Scrabble.)
Kumquats look like tiny, oval oranges. Like oranges, they are rich in potassium and vitamins A and C. Their popularity has [...]
This has to be the most interesting fruit I’ve come across in a while! It’s oblong-shaped, bright-hot pink, and the skin looks a bit like scales. (Think Stephen Cosgrove’s Serendipity dragon and you’ll get the idea.) It’s indigenous to Mexico and Central and South America, where it’s called pitaya. When the tips of the “scales” [...]
