Let's take a break to try some of the local fruit, yeah? You've tried mangoes and pineapples and those unnecessarily small bananas, but what about the other stuff? Here, have a taste...
Jack Fruit are enormous - an area of rainforest the size of Wales is destroyed every time one is picked. And they've got a silly name. And they're proper tasty, in a Pringles way: one tiny piece and next thing, you've eaten the world. Proper good.
If you gave a kid crayons and asked them to design a fruit it would probably end up looking like a rambutan (Bond, 2009). They're brightly coloured and hairy, like some kind of hatchling from Monsters Inc. They're a bit like lychees only it's far easier to bite through the stone, which is woody and unpleasant. Incidentally, the second time I had rambutans I took the shell off and a plague of ants careered up my arms, they've not tasted quite as nice since.
Durians are notorious because of their impressive pong; cut one open and the whole room will smell of slightly rotten pickled onions. Inside it has a weird texture, you feel a bit like you're eating cake batter, which is never a bad thing. Durians get bonus points for looking like a medieval weapon.
When you first hear the name "dragon fruit" you think "now there's a crazy name for a fruit" and then you see one and you think "Nail on Head" (Bond, 2009). Unfortunately, I think that the whole world agrees that it's a pity that the dragon fruit doesn't taste anywhere near as interesting as it looks.
I've recently found that there are two types of tamarind; one for eating and a sour one for cooking with. The one I ate tasted very sour. Haribo Sour Mix sour. That means that the cooking ones must be caustic, the kind of flavour that leaves people looking like an Edvard Munch painting (a cynic - I mean you, Lana - might point out that it was Ellen who bought the tamarinds and she was a dumbass so quite probably bought the wrong ones). Fact geeks, it's the addition of tamarind paste that makes pad thai taste different from the common or garden stir fry that you make at home.
Why do we not have mangosteens back in Blighty? I'd not even heard of them. When I first saw the word in Lonely Planet I figured it was just a fancy way of saying "mango". They look good, like purple fimo apples, and taste amazing. Only slight criticism is the effort-to-meat ratio of the average fruit - you pretty much need a knife to get access through their armour. But, Tesco, if you're reading this, please can you start stocking mangosteens? Obviously I won't buy them, because I'm far too lazy to eat a fruit which requires tools when I can eat an apple, but it's principal of the thing. Thanks.
Jack Fruit are enormous - an area of rainforest the size of Wales is destroyed every time one is picked. And they've got a silly name. And they're proper tasty, in a Pringles way: one tiny piece and next thing, you've eaten the world. Proper good.
If you gave a kid crayons and asked them to design a fruit it would probably end up looking like a rambutan (Bond, 2009). They're brightly coloured and hairy, like some kind of hatchling from Monsters Inc. They're a bit like lychees only it's far easier to bite through the stone, which is woody and unpleasant. Incidentally, the second time I had rambutans I took the shell off and a plague of ants careered up my arms, they've not tasted quite as nice since.
Durians are notorious because of their impressive pong; cut one open and the whole room will smell of slightly rotten pickled onions. Inside it has a weird texture, you feel a bit like you're eating cake batter, which is never a bad thing. Durians get bonus points for looking like a medieval weapon.
When you first hear the name "dragon fruit" you think "now there's a crazy name for a fruit" and then you see one and you think "Nail on Head" (Bond, 2009). Unfortunately, I think that the whole world agrees that it's a pity that the dragon fruit doesn't taste anywhere near as interesting as it looks.
I've recently found that there are two types of tamarind; one for eating and a sour one for cooking with. The one I ate tasted very sour. Haribo Sour Mix sour. That means that the cooking ones must be caustic, the kind of flavour that leaves people looking like an Edvard Munch painting (a cynic - I mean you, Lana - might point out that it was Ellen who bought the tamarinds and she was a dumbass so quite probably bought the wrong ones). Fact geeks, it's the addition of tamarind paste that makes pad thai taste different from the common or garden stir fry that you make at home.
Why do we not have mangosteens back in Blighty? I'd not even heard of them. When I first saw the word in Lonely Planet I figured it was just a fancy way of saying "mango". They look good, like purple fimo apples, and taste amazing. Only slight criticism is the effort-to-meat ratio of the average fruit - you pretty much need a knife to get access through their armour. But, Tesco, if you're reading this, please can you start stocking mangosteens? Obviously I won't buy them, because I'm far too lazy to eat a fruit which requires tools when I can eat an apple, but it's principal of the thing. Thanks.
2 comments:
Bizarrely, I was listening to an interview with an exotic fruit buyer on Radio 4 t'other day (Oh God, what has my life become?!) and she was saying that she loves going all around the world tasting hte fruit as it's amazing, but you can't stock it in Tesco because by the time it's travelled around the world it tastes a bit pants. I can't see why they can't have a bash at growing it in some big green hosue somewhere though. Anyway, could be a new career for you to investigate? Your business cards would be pretty cool, and you could dress like the man from Del Monte.
Rx
What Rhiannon said.
And, I like that many exotic fruits taste of slightly more appealing kinds of water. But water is cheaper, so I usually stick to that.
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