I was reading about exotic fruits. The kiwi has become a standby, and the papaya and mango are somewhat familiar, but has anyone become acquainted with the cherimoya, the durian, the lychee, the kiwano, the mangosteen, the passion fruit, pomegranate, the starfruit, the pluot (plum/apricot cross), or the coquito nut (baby coconut)?
Aha! Jerry introduced me to "lychee" here in Hawaii. I thought they were strawberries, but you peel them and see a white, glistening fruit that is delicious. Passion fruit is likewise delicious, and I have seen 'pomegranates,' though I am not sure if I have eaten them.
I can see, though, that there are many fruits that I am unfamiliar with.
By the way, is there a difference between cantaloupe (that Hab has told us he hates!) and musk mellon? Or is it one word?
quote:Originally posted by wordnerd: I was reading about exotic fruits. The kiwi has become a standby, and the papaya and mango are somewhat familiar, but has anyone become acquainted with the _cherimoya_, the _durian_, the _lychee_, the _kiwano_, the _mangosteen_, the _passion fruit_, _pomegranate_, the _starfruit_, the _pluot_ (plum/apricot cross), or the _coquito nut_ (baby coconut)?
Exotic fruits have over recent years become increasingly easy o buy. So from your list I've eaten -
kiwi, papaya, mango, durian, lychee, passion fruit, pomegranite and starfruit - though I have to say most British wouldn't consider the pomegranite to be especially exotic. It's been around on the supermarket shelves at least since I was a very young child. Durian I've only eaten while traveling.
Starfruit I find rather too bitter to be palatable.
I've also eaten dragon fruit (which tastes of absolutely nothing at all but bizarrely the taste that it doesn't have lingers in the mouth for ages afterwards - a most peculiar and unpleasant experience) and custard apple among many others.
"No man but a blockhead ever wrote except for money." Samuel Johnson.
I agree with Bob. Most of these fruit are fairly common here. especially pomegranite.
When I was very young my father (who was a travel agent and on good terms with Air India) brought home some mangoes (this would have been in the late 1940s) and I remember well the first bite into this squashy and incredibly juicy fruit. None of my schoolfriends had even heard of mangoes, let alone eaten them.
In our garden we have a couple of Loquat trees (grown from seeds from fruit brought back from Greece). This year one of them flowered for the first time but whether we'll ever get fruit is debatable since Loquats are a Mediterranean species.
Richard English
Posts: 8038 | Location: Partridge Green, West Sussex, UK
Regarding exotic and odd fruits....Kiwi and mango are rather nice, but you haven't lived until you've had Cloudberries (rubus chamaemorus). Don't expect to find 'em at your local greengrocer. They grow in sub-arctic bogs in Norway, Finland,and Canada. In my area they're called (for some unknown reason) bakeapplesbut they look more like a fat, yellow raspberry than anything else. They have not yet been domesticated and because thay can only be had by slogging through bogs, pickers around here get $60.00 a gallon for 'em. They're worth it. The flavour is incredible. Cloudberries around here are getting rarer all the time and it is said that this is because the seed can only germinate after passing through the gut of a willow ptarmigan lagopus lagopus(much like a Scottish grouse), which are themselves getting rare around here, so I guess the price will keep rising unless the Norwegians succeed in their attempts at domestcation.
While I can't testify as to its taste, I can state without any reservation that the uglyfruit is quite possibly the best-named edible in the English language.
It looks like a cross between a grapefruit and a brain tumor.
I'd agree with Bob; the pomegranate is not seen as particularly exotic over here. Like him, I can remember eating it as a child, and that was before modern relatively cheap air freight meant that supermarkets could stock the more unusual fruits.
Others on the list I've tried are the starfruit, passion fruit and lychee. I've also eaten and enjoyed the ugli fruit, mentioned by CJ.
Build a man a fire and he's warm for a day. Set a man on fire and he's warm for the rest of his life.
I suspect that the pomegranite, like the orange, has a relatively long shelf life and was thus better able to stand the rigours of a long sea journey than would be, for example, Lychees.
Richard English
Posts: 8038 | Location: Partridge Green, West Sussex, UK
quote:Originally posted by Chris J. Strolin: ... the uglyfruit is quite possibly the best-named edible in the English language.
Actually, the name is ugli, ugli fruit or uglifruit. The u, as I understand it, is not pronounced like u in ugly, but like oo in shoot, though I can't say for sure. Someone apparently misspelled it, perhaps intentionally, changing the i to y.
It was first produced in Brown's Town, Jamaica in 1914 (Wikipedia) and was a cross between the Seville orange Citrus aurantium, the grapefruit C. paradisi, and the tangerine, C. reticulata (OED Online). UGLI is a trade mark for tangelos grown in Jamaica and marketed by Cabel Hall Citrus Ltd. While UGLI remains a proprietary name, ugli is a generic term for any tangelo.
The mangosteen is a fantastic fruit. Purple, pithy outer covering. Cream-colored flesh. Little, flat, mango-like seeds in each section. Puts all the others to shame. Haven't had one in 24 years, but the memory lingers on. I like durian, too. For easily available fruits, here in the States, pomegranates are great. Hmm.
Bob, you mentioned the custard apple. I'd mentioned the cherimoya, but didn't mention that the article I read, prompting this thread, had said "custard apple" is another name for the same fruit.
Of all those mentioned, it was the one I wanted most to try. Mark Twain was quoted as calling it "deliciousness itself". And how can I resist, after reading that cherimoya "fruits taste like a blend of pineapple, mango and strawberry flavours. Ripe fruits are green and taste like a fruit salad combination." Or the alternate description: "velvety fruit, a delicious flavour-blend of banana and pineapple. Its texture is much like a papaya."This message has been edited. Last edited by: wordnerd,
jheem, the article mention that mangosteen juice is available in the US, but that importation of the fresh fruit is not allowed. I'll see if I can't find the article to let you know why.
OK, I stand corrected on the spelling of "uglifruit." I first heard of this citric delicacy (?!) as part of some British comic's stand-up routine when he rapidly rattled off the names of some 50 or 60 fruits to (as I recall) a prospective customer at his fruit stand. Years later I saw some at a local Farmers' Market and was afraid to try one. They do say, after all, "You are what you eat" and I'm no Tom Cruise to begin with!
For what it's worth, the comic pronounced it as "ugly-fruit" with no double-O sound.
wordnerd-- You can get mangosteens canned here in the States, but it ain't the same thing. For the full effect, I'll need a mosquito coil burning in an old Coke bottle, too. Hmm.
I was reading about exotic fruits. The kiwi has become a standby, and the papaya and mango are somewhat familiar, but has anyone become acquainted with the _cherimoya_, the _durian_, the _lychee_, the _kiwano_, the _mangosteen_, the _passion fruit_, _pomegranate_, the _starfruit_, the _pluot_ (plum/apricot cross), or the _coquito nut_ (baby coconut)?
Of the above I've tasted the kiwis, papayas, mangos, lychees, passion fruit and pomegranates (I like sprinkling them over a cheese platter). I also like the loquats that Richard mentioned (They're everywhere here. Large pit with relatively little flesh but very juicy and tasty). Another favorite is quince (made into a special sweet preserve) and the lotus fruit (bright orange papery skin with succulent, opaque orange flesh that must be eaten very ripe. Otherwise it's incredibly tart.)
A grandfather of mine raised quince, but the bottom fell out of the market when other sources of pectin emerged. They're a cute little fruit. Kinda like a fuzzy pear. All those quince in Sonoma Valley got pulled out for plums (prunes) which then gave way to grapes. Cycle of life.
By the way, is there a difference between cantaloupe (that Hab has told us he hates!) and musk mellon? Or is it one word?
As far as I know, a cantaloupe and a muskmelon are every different. Cantaloupes are well, you know--cantaloupes. Orange flesh, that thready very alien skin.
Muskmelons, or what I've always seen called that have a smooth skin, like watermelons, and are a light green yellow color. The insides to me aren't as fleshy or sweet as a good cantaloupe.
WinterBranch, I respectfully think you are wrong. I have bought muskmelons (one word then?) at farmer markets, and while they seem different from cantaloupes (bigger), they aren't smooth, and the inside is orange, like cantaloupe. I think you are thinking of honey dew melons.
