415541 Tue Jun 26 21:13:41 -0700 2007 88 27 General Chowhounding Topics 0 2697955 Ever encounter any insanely tasty or just plain weird fruits in your travels? In the winter of 2005, I had a delicious cherimoya-type-fruit in Brazil whose name I just can't seem to remember. It had green skin and black seeds like a normal cherimoya, but a bumpier, segmented texture on the outside, and it was out-of-this-world custardy and delicious. Tue Jun 26 21:13:41 -0700 2007 57371 operagirl 1 2697973 I still remember my first ruby grapefruit in Bangkok in 1975.... Beyond heavenly!!!! We used to have them every morning for breakfast..Never ever found one here that comes anywhere close to the sweetness of those Thai ones all those years ago. Tue Jun 26 21:24:04 -0700 2007 2697955 86137 purple goddess 1 2697992 My latest trip to Manila left me with a burning desire to find Philippine mango and chico here in California. Alas, as much as I adore the Mexican(?) mango readily available in the States, even the best cannot compare to perfectly ripe, juicy, intense Philippine mango. If anyone knows where I can find these, and other native-to-the-Philippines fruits, PLEASE advise!! Tue Jun 26 21:34:48 -0700 2007 2697955 107666 riceflour 2 2698009 I don't know where you live, but here in Los Angeles, Philippine mangoes, also called "champagne" mangoes, are sold by the caseload at any Asian store worth its fish sauce... 99 Ranch, for example, Shun Fat, and Hong Kong Supermarket. A case usually contains 12-15 mangoes and costs about $10. Tue Jun 26 21:43:31 -0700 2007 2697992 10811 Das Ubergeek 3 2698021 Champagne mangoes! I've been staring at them for months now, wondering if they're the same thing. I'm in KTown, so 99Ranch is a bit of a drive, but HK Supermarket is right down the street. I'm heading there first thing tomorrow. Thanks again! BTW--any word on other fruits? Chico, especially. I have a great fondness for those bizarre, brown sugar-tasting bits of goodness. Tue Jun 26 21:47:58 -0700 2007 2698009 107666 riceflour 3 2708591 Are those mangoes imported from the Philippines? I really haven't been to 99 Ranch recently. I know for a couple of years now they grow a variety in Mexico known as "manila" mangoes. It looks very much like the mangoes from the philippines, and really sweet. Actually, the best mangoes in the philippines are sweet, yet it still has some acidity that the "manila" mangoes lack. Some of the best mangoes in the philippines are from an island know as Guimaras. A couple of years ago, my brother bought me a case of mangoes imported from there. They were good, but not as good because they were harvested early for the travel. Sat Jun 30 01:51:21 -0700 2007 2698009 51055 Rodeline 4 2708608 I haven't tried the "Manila" mangoes yet, but I hope they're the same. The only time I've had the Philippine mangoes like the ones in the Philippines is throughout the rest of Asian--HK, Japan, etc. I'll give the "Manila" ones a try and report back. Sat Jun 30 02:56:19 -0700 2007 2708591 107666 riceflour 5 2708776 I don't know offhand if they're actually imported from the Philippines -- I don't have any in my kitchen right now -- but they are definitely more acidic than your "normal" rounder Mexican mangoes -- they pair really well with com tam nuoc dua (sweet broken rice cooked in coconut milk). Sat Jun 30 06:25:37 -0700 2007 2708608 10811 Das Ubergeek 4 2757701 I've been told that those 'manila' mangoes are grown around Acapulco, and they actually originated from Manila, transplanted to Mexico during the Spanish era via the Manila-Acapulco galleon trade. Tue Jul 17 11:00:53 -0700 2007 2708591 112403 aardvarkian 5 2760495 Ditto.... Phillipine style mangos have been cultivated in Mexico for about 400 years. Quite good. Wed Jul 18 08:05:25 -0700 2007 2757701 42572 Eat_Nopal 1 2698027 Papaya at Veracruz, Mexico. Nothing special or unique, but it was just so amazingly pure, fresh and sweet. Nothing like it here in the States. Tue Jun 26 21:51:22 -0700 2007 2697955 11583 ipsedixit 2 2704272 I had the most amazing papaya in a fruit carving class I took in Chiang Mai, Thailand. It was unlike any papaya I've had before or since. I did a lot more eating than carving, and the school sent me back to my hotel with a tupperware full of the leftovers Thu Jun 28 14:46:02 -0700 2007 2698027 75002 Megiac 1 2698057 Lansones and rambutan from SE Asia, Acai products from Brasil, mangosteens from Burma, carambola, "mountain apples" from my childhood visits to Hawaii (no clue what they were), some small dark berries from here in Colombia--can't remember the name; after they became too expensive. AND...all the fruit here in Colombia. Tue Jun 26 22:03:26 -0700 2007 2697955 36661 Sam Fujisaka 2 2734680 Sam, Funny, my first thought was of mountain apple because I always thought it was unique to hawaii. Per the referenced website: Native to Malaysia. Has been spread by humans through much of southeast Asia and the Pacific islands. Now common growing wild on the Hawaiian islands. The Malay apple (or mountain apple as it is known in Hawaii) was an important fruit of the Polynesians, and was later distributed to the America's on one of Captain Bligh's voyages. I also love "fresh" lychee, although alergies prevent me from eating more than one or two a year. And don't forget star fruit! Mon Jul 09 21:42:00 -0700 2007 2698057 57890 KaimukiMan 3 2735352 HA! my mum sent me some star fruit in the post only a couple of weeks ago. whilst still aromatic and exotic, eating them was not as enjoyable as the smell and notion of them. schade Tue Jul 10 07:40:21 -0700 2007 2734680 104230 kmh 3 2735640 In Jamaica they call the Malay apple an Otaheite apple. It didnt have all that much flavor but the neighbor had a huge tree so we ate them. Tue Jul 10 09:04:07 -0700 2007 2734680 71215 mlgb 3 2744507 KaimukiMan, cool. Thank you. Thu Jul 12 15:12:33 -0700 2007 2734680 36661 Sam Fujisaka 3 3577392 Actually I miss having pomalaca, a fruit in Venezuela. From what I understand, it's malay apple as well. http://www.flickr.com/photos/billkralovec/2400152581/ They're popular in Venezuela but they're not commercially grown, I believe. They still end up in some dishes nevertheless. I found some pomalaca trees growing in Miami, commercially, but I've yet to find any stores selling the fruits. They're said to be rose-water flavored apples. I couldn't think of a better description. Another fruit I enjoy is sapodilla (or nispero in Venezuela). It's said to taste like pear soaked in brown sugar. It's sweet, but makes for a good milk shake. I had a shake made out of that at Los Pinarenos fruit market in Miami's Little Havana neighborhood. Wed Apr 09 10:59:55 -0700 2008 2734680 101012 mialebven 1 2698210 Rambutan, salaks and mangosteen...oh my, heaven. Many memories attached to eating them as well. Tue Jun 26 23:06:30 -0700 2007 2697955 18222 maria lorraine 2 2698211 Isn't that funny.. I So don't consider mangosteens rare or unusual!!!! They, along with rambutans, custard apples, fresh lychees and more are all readily available her ein OZ!!! Tue Jun 26 23:07:57 -0700 2007 2698210 86137 purple goddess 3 2699174 Yes, but can you get bacuri, pupunha, camu-camu, babacu, and uxi? So there, take that pg! Wed Jun 27 08:59:53 -0700 2007 2698211 36661 Sam Fujisaka 3 2700866 You are indeed a lucky goddess, mangosteens and an outdoor oven! Just wondering if there are any fruits in North America that you enjoy and can't get in Oz... Soon we will be able to enjoy mangosteens here...irradiated ones. Wed Jun 27 15:52:19 -0700 2007 2698211 18222 maria lorraine 4 2705084 There are plenty of weird and exotic fruits in Queensland we can't get here in Melb.. chocolate pudding fruit, champagne melon, strawberry guavas, just to name a few... Thu Jun 28 19:39:22 -0700 2007 2700866 86137 purple goddess 5 2745257 The chocolate pudding fruit, is that something like the chocolate persimmon? I had a chocolate persimmon in Hawaii on the big island, it looked like a persimmon but the flesh was chocolate brown, and it had a milder taste than the regular persimmon. I bought a mamey in one of th emarkets in Havana, and I have never seen it since. Is it available in the U.S, or Canada? I also had what looked like a tiny Kiwi in south Korea once. I am assuming it is a chinese gooseberry. It was collected from the mountain side thatmorning, and was being sold in front of one of the temples. It was really sweet and much tastier than the regular kiwi! Thu Jul 12 19:55:46 -0700 2007 2705084 89969 moh 6 2745327 Mamey is widely available in grocery stores in Miami. I've purchased it from a street vendor in a Latino neighborhood in DC. My favoirite kind of milk shake. Thu Jul 12 20:22:22 -0700 2007 2745257 10156 Steve 6 3570486 Sounds like it. In Miami, I had something called sapote, a persimmon looking fruit but the inside was a very mild tasting chocolate looking thing. My preference is for the regular persimmon. Mon Apr 07 13:04:11 -0700 2008 2745257 10763 Miss Needle 7 3573055 Yes this sounds right. The more I learn about sapote, the more I am convinced that the Chocolate Persimmon I had was a type of sapote. Tue Apr 08 08:41:14 -0700 2008 3570486 89969 moh 1 2698219 my first fresh lychee and yellow watermelon in taiwan, jamaica-lying on the beach in the morning with the ladies carrying the fruit in baskets on their head and having fresh coconut milk and the meat as well as papaya and mangoes, a fresh off the tree apple in upstate NY and in WA. Tue Jun 26 23:12:28 -0700 2007 2697955 77080 justagthing 1 2698400 asian pears (don't know their korean names) the size of my head and juicy juicy overly ripe persimmons in korea fruit is so underrated by the way. I always felt that a nice apple, orange, some watermelon, pears, peaches, etc made for a great and simple dessert. Wed Jun 27 04:43:37 -0700 2007 2697955 24546 bitsubeats 2 2701083 I agree about fruit being underrated. When something is freshly picked, even as simple/plain as a red delicious apple, it's so good. I rarely cook fruit or do anything to it if it's fresh. Nature's candy. Wed Jun 27 16:48:34 -0700 2007 2698400 39874 chowser 1 2699047 The strangest fruit that I haven't yet tasted has to be the snot pomegranate, granada de moco, described to me by my Oaxacan sister in law. I hope some have tried it and can elaborate. Here's the thread from last year. http://www.chowhound.com/topics/285314?query=snot%20pomegranate Wed Jun 27 08:30:53 -0700 2007 2697955 12823 Junie D 1 2700467 Pommecythere ("golden apple) in Trinidad, growing in my mother-in-law's garden. Not that tasty but damn interesting. I had "gold kiwi" the other day and it was delicious- kind of a cross between a ripe pear and a little citrus, not really like a green kiwi at all. In western Canada we have saskatoon berries, which are a sort of savoury, big, red-purple blueberry. Grizzly bears love 'em. Wed Jun 27 14:00:24 -0700 2007 2697955 12135 John Manzo 1 2700770 I have been craving a good Guanabana for weeks, probably ever since I heard Los Folkloristas version of the traditional song La Guanabana which compares it - in that sly Veracruz humor - with a woman's vagina. Wed Jun 27 15:18:53 -0700 2007 2697955 42572 Eat_Nopal 2 2705320 Purple Goddess, the amazing fruit you had very well could have been soursop, also called guanabana in Spanish. This is absolutely the most amazing single fruit I've eaten. I had it fresh in Jamaica. it is illegal to import fresh into the US, I don't know why. Maybe because the seeds are toxic? Maybe because of a certain kind of bug? In Jamaica it is considered a natural tranquilizer. Indeed, after eating a soursop one afternoon, I did pass out in an idyl the rest of the day. The black seeds are in these tiny liquidy sacs. The fruit is green and bumpy, about the size of four pears, as opposed to sweetsop which is round and smoother, and the size of an orange. Soursop has an exotic tropical bitter/sour component in addition to its sweetness (like pineapple has). Anyway, frozen just isn't the same. Is not commercially grown in the US. Thu Jun 28 21:28:06 -0700 2007 2700770 10156 Steve 3 2706310 Interesting.... in Mexican culture... pregnant & menstruating women are advised against eating it. Fri Jun 29 08:50:23 -0700 2007 2705320 42572 Eat_Nopal 4 2706829 And in China, pregnant women are not supposed to eat watermelon as it's a "cold" food. Fri Jun 29 11:16:25 -0700 2007 2706310 10811 Das Ubergeek 1 2701094 Other than typical tropical fruits in pacific islands, soursop juice was a treat in the Bahamas. The soursop wasn't good to eat, though. They probably had a good laugh at the clueless tourist. I've had other fruits from farmers markets in the Caribbean but couldn't tell you what they were. Long time ago... Wed Jun 27 16:53:31 -0700 2007 2697955 39874 chowser 2 2702510 Actually.... you have to know HOW to eat it =) Thu Jun 28 07:58:07 -0700 2007 2701094 42572 Eat_Nopal 3 2702595 How do you eat it? We didn't have a knife and it was challenging and not good. Then, we had the juice out and it was great. Thu Jun 28 08:20:46 -0700 2007 2702510 39874 chowser 4 2702629 Read my previous post and use your imagination. Thu Jun 28 08:28:55 -0700 2007 2702595 42572 Eat_Nopal 5 2703005 Ooooh, didn't tie the two together. Maybe I'll just stick with the juice...;-) Thu Jun 28 10:05:27 -0700 2007 2702629 39874 chowser 6 2703059 I have tasted the yellow meated watermelon from taiwan and it was good, but for watermelon my choice is the klondike watermelon they are so sweet and they are so crisp that you cant ship them without them breaking. so most of the time you have to get them from a local farmer. a moon and star melon ranks right up there in my book. Thu Jun 28 10:19:07 -0700 2007 2703005 50491 bigjimbray 1 2703833 Oh what I would give for some mangosteens right now...I just read an article on the NYT today and they said that US is going to allow imports of mangosteens and other exotic fruits from Thailand!! They said that the fruits should be available sometime in Sept. I am patiently awaiting its arrival...(or maybe impatiently =X) Thu Jun 28 13:10:52 -0700 2007 2697955 104826 itstangy 1 2706901 -- Tunas, a fruit from the paddle cacti, are just beautiful things, with the texture of a kiwi, but with red flesh. -- Chicozapotes, this amazingly black and tangy fruit that we use to make "petrol" hehehe.. which is pured chicozapote that is served cold, cold! -- Mamey, which is a brown, heavy fruit with sweet flesh (and the insides of the giant seed can be used as mascara) But by far the weirdest fruit I´ve had here is the "higo del desierto" a fruit that sprouts at the top of saguaro cacti. They look really disgusting.. but inside you find the sweetest treat: honey-like, molasses-colored, alegría tasting. I also remember a fruit you had to suck on for hours and hours, releasing the gooey flesh, but i can´t remember the name. And of course, I do love Durian. =) Fri Jun 29 11:37:09 -0700 2007 2697955 98600 mirilara 2 2706914 "alegría tasting" Alegrias? Like the popped Amaranth seed cakes? Nice... nutty and sweet that is fairly unusual. Fri Jun 29 11:39:06 -0700 2007 2706901 42572 Eat_Nopal 3 2706922 Yeah.. wierd, particularly because you simply do not expect it from what the fruit looks like. Fri Jun 29 11:40:39 -0700 2007 2706914 98600 mirilara 2 2707013 Do you know if Chicozapote is aka Zapote Negro? In that case you can also include Zapote Blanco on the list. An observation on Tunas.... there are many heritage varieties (including ones which are almost seedless)... that never make it NOB. I bet if they were better differented and marketed it could become more popular. U.S. virigins are usually positively surprised with the flavor (at least realtive to its appearance)... as they are extremely refreshing. If I ever win the lottery.... I will buy up a bunch of farmland and grow Nopales and Tunas commerically... then maybe I will be able to get Nopalitos instead of Rice at most Mexican joints! Fri Jun 29 12:06:38 -0700 2007 2706901 42572 Eat_Nopal 3 2709101 I think most Americans that have visited do fall in love with Tunas, and I think it is the surprise factor, you know, looking at this green, almost spiny oval, and then voilà, this amazing green or red fruit inside. =) Guanabana, is also pretty fun. Dragon fruit, pitajaya.. it makes me smile when I walk by the marchantas in the market. Nanches, they sell them of carretas in the street... never been a fan, per se, but it is good to see children eat them. On nopales, since our marchanta brings them over every other day, I don´t think I wanna see nopales anywhere else.. hehehe! But good luck with your cacti farm. Grow saguaros as well.. Or, de hecho, come down to Tehuacan, we have the largest endemic cacti biosphere in the world. =) And we are the cradle of the corn! hehehe! Sat Jun 30 09:25:58 -0700 2007 2707013 98600 mirilara 1 2708601 I love fruits and my ultimate favorite fruit is called a star apple. As a child in the philippines, I remember just staring up at the tree and seeing the round fruits with green or purple shiny outer skin. The inside has a custardy pulp and the seeds are wrapped in this tranlucent gelatinous sack that you can also eat. It is also grown in Veitnam, the ones that I've bought here at the asian markets are frozen and are from there. In my last couple trips to the Philippines, I have had the oppurtunity to see many different fruit trees. There's the red and yellow varieties of rambutan. There's a bell shaped fruit called 'tambis' in my dialect, Ilongo. Different varieties of mangoes, too bad that my trips have not coincide with mango season(one day I hope to attend the mango festival in Guimaras). The cashew tree has also not been in season with my trips(the nut comes with a fruit that I want to taste). In one of the markets, I bought a variety of banana called 'ladies finger'. The jackfruit is amazing in that it is a really large fruit that grows in a tree(you wouldn't want one of these fruits fall on your head). There's a little tiny fruit called 'ceresa', which has a honey taste. Other fruits that I had on these trips is chico, mangosteen, and guayabano. What's really funny is that most of these fruits are considered backyard fruit? I remember that look on the people that had the yellow rambutan in there yard, that we actually wanted to buy their fruit. And they were puzzled that I was taking pictures, both stills and video. Sat Jun 30 02:26:34 -0700 2007 2697955 51055 Rodeline 2 2709635 Lady fingers are the best banana on the planet. Sat Jun 30 14:54:38 -0700 2007 2708601 36661 Sam Fujisaka 2 2709867 I was told that the cashew was poisonous without being treated (as in when they process the nuts). Sat Jun 30 17:16:33 -0700 2007 2708601 104230 kmh 3 2711763 Not really... the cashew apple is edible as is, but the nut's shell contains urushiol, which is the irritant in poison ivy. So they shell the nuts and then they boil them or roast them to make sure the urushiol is neutralised. Mango sap also contains urushiol, which is why some people can't handle mangoes. (Ah, the things you learn on cashew farms in Hawaii...) Sun Jul 01 18:28:16 -0700 2007 2709867 10811 Das Ubergeek 4 2712235 ...and living in North Queensland! the mango sap is definitely problematic, and recently my father (after years of handling them) had an awful reaction whilst peeling, packing and freezing them! b/c our mango (summer) season is at christmas, we now call him mangoman at christmas time as his face was swollen his eyes turned to tiny slits, and if you squinted hard enough he looked a bit mango-like, but yes the sap is truly awful. Sun Jul 01 23:33:52 -0700 2007 2711763 104230 kmh 4 2734698 we have cashew farms in Hawaii???? wow, I never knew! Mon Jul 09 21:50:46 -0700 2007 2711763 57890 KaimukiMan 5 2735534 On the Big Island, Puna coast, down makai from Pahoa. Tue Jul 10 08:39:52 -0700 2007 2734698 10811 Das Ubergeek 6 2739023 thanks DU. did a websearch, but didnt find anything... perhaps i didn't dig far enough! Wed Jul 11 07:55:06 -0700 2007 2735534 57890 KaimukiMan 2 2711788 I love star apple (or caimito as we called it). It was definitely a "childhood memory" fruit along with aratilis, duhat and tambis (or macopa). We also had star fruits in our backyard. I miss the variety of fruits you can get in the Philippines. Durian, mangosteen, guyabano, atis, lanzones, camachile, and of course, the best mangoes in the world :-) Sun Jul 01 18:38:45 -0700 2007 2708601 46140 ctl98 2 2726111 We used to also eat something called a star apple in Jamaica. It sounds like the same thing. Here the type of persimmon that you need to let get soft first reminds me of it also. We also ate the fruit of a sapodilla tree that we called "Nazeberry" which maybe is the same as black sapote? Fuzzy skin and almost a cinnamony flavor. Fri Jul 06 18:53:56 -0700 2007 2708601 71215 mlgb 3 2728323 That's the same star apple. I know to look for it, just in case one day, I travel to Jamaica. Sat Jul 07 19:32:04 -0700 2007 2726111 51055 Rodeline 1 2708802 Fresh, golden pineapple on the northern Ecuadorean beach- they sold for 30 cents so us gringas, came covered in tiny crawling ants, and posessed the most unbelievable punchy perfume- vanilla and orange as well as essense of luxuriantly ripe pineapple. Bananas were a penny each, and sold bright green but perfectly ripe. It was all we ate for a week. In Samoa recently I was disappointed by the paucity of fruit. The open market in Apia was packed with muddy taro and other, less identifiable rootlike things; little piles of tobacco all in rows; some coconuts and smallish,browning bananas. I bought imported fruit juice from Oz. : ( Sat Jun 30 06:43:03 -0700 2007 2697955 75421 caerphilly 1 2711777 Funny how I was just wondering about a particular fruit I had last night. I'd never seen it before and the friend who brought it doesn't know what it is either. Any ideas anyone? http://feedingtheboys.blogspot.com/2007/07/mystery-fruit.html Sun Jul 01 18:34:51 -0700 2007 2697955 46140 ctl98 2 2712897 I was reading your blog and "ulud" is also translated as worm in the Ilongo dialect. The do look like little worms, but probably didn't taste like one. I hope one day to run into this strange ulud fruit. Mon Jul 02 09:06:02 -0700 2007 2711777 51055 Rodeline 3 2713181 ..and "uuod" in Cebuano, "ulod" in Tagalog. Mon Jul 02 10:14:59 -0700 2007 2712897 36661 Sam Fujisaka 1 2711889 The sour cherries in Iran are my favorite fruit, aside from pomegranates. :) Unfortunately, I have only had them twice in LA (both times brought over from a private farm). If I could grow my own tree, I would. The sour cherry is about 1/3 the size of a regular cherry, bright red, and very tart. I love sour cherries. Sun Jul 01 19:29:53 -0700 2007 2697955 57689 katkoupai 2 2712098 La Brea Bakery makes chocolate and sour cherry bread--a proper yeast bread, not some cakey quick bread thing. I've had it, and it's great! The cherries' sourness is somewhat tempered by the cocoa flavor, so they may not quite suit your needs. But the loaf I sampled had some rather tart cherries, indeed! Sun Jul 01 21:44:06 -0700 2007 2711889 107666 riceflour 3 2712104 Neat. I have seen dried "sour cherries" in Persian markets in LA, but they are not the same as the ones in Iran. The ones is Iran have far more tang and bite to them and are a different fruit. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sour_cherry I sometimes wonder if they just take regular cherries here in LA and call them "sour." I must check this sour cherry bread that you mention out. Thanks for the post. :) Sun Jul 01 21:48:07 -0700 2007 2712098 57689 katkoupai 4 2728565 Well, after saying that I've only seen fresh sour cherries in LA twice, I now stand corrected. I bought some fresh ones from Jordan Market in Westwood today. Sour cherries are now grown in California. I'm very happy. :-) Jordan Market (310) 478-1706 1449 Westwood Blvd Los Angeles, CA 90024 Sat Jul 07 22:22:51 -0700 2007 2712104 57689 katkoupai 1 2712224 Ugandan pineapples - I'm a huge fan of pineapple in general but the ones you get in Uganda are ultra-sweet and extra tasty -particularly good when juiced and served over ice on a hot African afternoon. And also (although it's not technically a fruit) sugar cane - delicious! Sun Jul 01 23:23:55 -0700 2007 2697955 93764 AmarV 1 2713409 I miss the white pineapples from the Big Island of Hawaii -- they're so much sweeter than the standard yellow kind that there's no comparison. Mon Jul 02 11:16:50 -0700 2007 2697955 10811 Das Ubergeek 1 2726128 Guineps in Jamaica. They are one strange fruit. The grow in clusters like grapes, in a hard green shell that you pop open. The pulp is a pinky fleshy color. If they are not ripe enough, you get a mouth full of cotton. Ripe they are sweet, can't really describe the flavor but they were refreshing. Fri Jul 06 19:01:57 -0700 2007 2697955 71215 mlgb 2 2733989 These are being sold by street vendors in nyc at the moment. "Ripe they are sweet, can't really describe the flavor but they were refreshing" ... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mamoncillo Mon Jul 09 17:38:57 -0700 2007 2726128 67783 TheDescendedLefticleOfAramis 3 2739243 Yes that's them!. Strange that they don't warn about the mouthful of cotton on the unripe ones. Wed Jul 11 08:54:45 -0700 2007 2733989 71215 mlgb 1 2730924 I'm still shocked at the number of people that have never tried or even heard of an asian/korean pear. Sun Jul 08 21:16:21 -0700 2007 2697955 109044 Bunson 2 2731096 is that the same as nashi? Sun Jul 08 22:51:35 -0700 2007 2730924 104230 kmh 3 2732952 Yes! And everyone I've gotten to try a bite, has been hooked. Mon Jul 09 12:49:54 -0700 2007 2731096 109044 Bunson 1 2732963 My poor husband grabbed a prickly pear from a tree in southern italy a few years ago. We had one served to us the night before and it was great-thought we'd just pick it off the tree-oops! Mon Jul 09 12:52:31 -0700 2007 2697955 24738 LJS 1 2732966 Another well-known but not easily found fruit are loquats. Typically you can find trees growing here and there and you can pick the fruit off, but I haven't been able to find them in stores. Mon Jul 09 12:52:52 -0700 2007 2697955 109044 Bunson 2 2734488 I've never seen loquats for sale -- everyone in our area has at least one loquat tree. Mon Jul 09 20:21:55 -0700 2007 2732966 10811 Das Ubergeek 1 2733014 Two years ago, in Mexico, I had the best fruit/drink experience of my life. We'd spent the entire day swimming and boating in 90+ temperatures, so at the end of the day we stopped at a local watering hole for a quick drink. This place had mangos the size of my head that they had literally just picked. The bartender opened one up, sliced it up, and threw it in a blender with Tequila and lime, and a few other items. He produced what was possibly the most incredible drink ever with some chunks of fresh mango still in the drink. I'd stab those with my straw and suck them up. Yum!! It was so good, everyone in our party ordered one too. We still chat about that drink to this day. Needless to say, there wasn't a drop left. Mon Jul 09 13:01:07 -0700 2007 2697955 28724 kkak 2 2733824 Now that was an authentic Mango Petacon experience.... the stuff we get here is often referred to as Petacon variety... but they are a different animal. Mon Jul 09 16:48:58 -0700 2007 2733014 42572 Eat_Nopal 1 2740398 Hi Operagirl.... that may have been an Antemoya? Another intersting one that I just remembered is the Mocambo. Its related to Cacao & Kola Nuts.... it bears a fruit used in cold Atoles. Its seeds can be roasted to and resembles chocolate... but mostly its used as underbrush for Cacao & Coffee in the Shade Grown method. Not as interesting are the various Cherries including Yellow Cherries native to Mexico & Central America. But there is a rare berry that makes anything sour you eat afterwards... taste sweet for some time period. Wed Jul 11 12:52:14 -0700 2007 2697955 42572 Eat_Nopal 1 2745301 Love Star fruit,Lychees,Longans,fresh Mangos,Mangosteen(only had it in can)this fruit is weird I ate a can and my health felt like it improved and I felt stronger,its supposed to be good for alot of things.It better be good it cost like 3$s a can. Thu Jul 12 20:11:41 -0700 2007 2697955 98401 widehomehi 1 2745509 I love granadilla (or as my son calls it "fruta de moco"). It's slimy and aromatic and delicious--we get them in Spain. Really all of the edible passiflora varieties are great: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sweet_granadilla Thu Jul 12 21:31:09 -0700 2007 2697955 10661 butterfly 1 3568293 I consider myself a fruitaholic and have tried over 200 different species of fruit, domesticated and wild, in my travels around the globe (yes, I keep a list of all these fruits, call me crazy!) in Latin America, Asia, and Africa. I can't possible list all the fruits I love, but I'll try to answer a few questions posted here and list a few of my favorites. Some can be seen at http://nat.myphotos.cc/fruit Questions/confusing names first: - chico = sapodilla = naseberry (nazeberry), but not black sapote. Sapote is a muddled term used for any tropical apple-sized fruit with a mushy sweet flesh, and there are many in different families. Black or chocolate sapote is in the persimmon family, mamey sapote is in the chicle family, white sapote is in the citrus family, and the orange sapote of Peru is totally different from the mamey sapote (also orange) of the Caribeean. - Graviola (portuguese) = Guanabana (spanish) = Soursoup (english) and this is an excellent fruit with melting white grainy flesh around dark smooth black seeds, enclosed in a soft-spined green skin, closely related to the also delicious cherimoya, atemoya, and custard apple. I made sure to have graviola sorbet everyday in Brazil because it's so melting, creamy, and mildly acidic. I see this once and a while fresh in chinatown in the summer. - the mountain apples mentioned in Hawaii here are the same as the tambis from the Philippines, and are also called malay apples or mamey in Peru. They are in the Guava family. There is a closely related rose apple with white flesh found in the hills of Hawaii as well that has a hint of rose water a bit like lychees. - Loquats are now sold in stores in NYC's CHinatown, but hard to fathom at $6/lb when they are falling off trees uneaten all over california! - Mocambo or Macambo or Patashte (in the Yucatan/Mexico) is definitely a cacao/cocoa/chocolate relative used in all of latin america, though mostly a minor fruit except in Mayan areas where it is still considered sacred. It's white pulp is pretty tasty, but not as good, IMHO as the pulp of the cacao fruit surrounding the cacao beans, which, unfortunately is discarded in most places, or used to ferment the cacao beans. In Brazilian Suco (smoothie) shops you can get a cacao pulp smoothie which is delicious and rich, though nothing like chocolate. Some of my other favorites are: - Mangosteen, much discussed. I especially liked the wild orange mangosteen I found in a national forest in Laos: http://nat.myphotos.cc/fruit/mediafiles/l39.jpg - Taperiba, jocote, or hog plum- a close mango relative makes an amazing ice cream in Belem, Brazil, and I had an indescribably delicious juice of it in Iquitos, Peru. - Inga, ice cream bean, or guaba (in Peru, not to be confused with Guava), a legume with green pods up to 4' long filled with dark purple seeds surrounded by sweet fluffy white flesh, perhaps more reminiscent of cotton candy than ice cream - Sweet grenadilla, fruta de moco, mentioned here, definitely deserving of the name 'mucus fruit' given the texture, but sooo good, refreshing, sweet, and still a bit of that tang of the standard passionfruit they're related to. - pineapple guava, originally from S. Brazil, but now grown as a hedge all over California. The white with pink blushed flowers taste like candied violets straight off the tree, and the egg shaped green fruit is very fragrant and spicy like its Guava relatives - langsat or duku, a unique fruit of northern SE Asia in Thailand and Laos, looks a bit like a white longan, but has segments inside that taste like grapefruit w/out the bitterness. Very refreshing in the tropical heat - juneberries, service berry, shadbush- a native shrub of the US that has excellent little blueberry-looking fruit in June that taste like a cross of apples and raspberries. Starting to be used in parks all around NYC, but few know how delicious they are! See, I told you I could go on forever! So many fruit, so little time! Sun Apr 06 20:29:23 -0700 2008 2697955 136437 ephramzz 1 3568937 Chirimoya (and chirimoya ice cream) and red mangoes in Bolivia. Strawberries in Norway & Finland. The near 24 hrs. of sunshine make them incredibly big, sweet & juicy. Mon Apr 07 06:43:43 -0700 2008 2697955 93538 Passadumkeg 1 3569278 Nespole, insanely juicy Figs and Prickly Pear in Sicily; Strawberries in Norway (taste way different than those here the US); Yuzu and Amanatsu in Japan; and those tart Michigan cherries- not too "weird", but my favorite hard-to-find fruit of all :) Mon Apr 07 08:35:20 -0700 2008 2697955 102095 vvvindaloo 2 3569443 Ah, yeah, nespole = loquat, definitely a delicious cross of a pear and a peach in taste! Mon Apr 07 09:12:44 -0700 2008 3569278 136437 ephramzz 2 3572394 Oh yes, cherries! From the steep mountains of Sognefjord to the San Juan mountain vallies of the San Juans in sw Colorado. Queen Anns. Jersey tomatoes and peaches, Maine blueberries. Tue Apr 08 03:20:19 -0700 2008 3569278 93538 Passadumkeg 1 3572285 I can't say it's unique or weird, but it is insanely tasty. Romania has the best watermelon I've ever had. They sell it all over the place in the summer and the vendors will cut a pyramid-shaped chunk straight out of the middle of the melon you pick and let you sample. If you don't like it, pick another. We never had to. They are all good. The farmers know exactly when to pick them. Problem? I now nearly can't stand the often mushy, flavorless watermelon we get here. Sigh. Mon Apr 07 23:40:41 -0700 2008 2697955 173425 Jen76