Fruit

[Allen89]

1 hour ago, liuzhou said:

 

Yes, you  are almost certainly correct. However, he has still got it wrong. I am not FROM China. I'm British as my profile states..

 

And there is no need for prediction. It says beside my name that I am in China.

 

The rest of the post remains confusing - I realise that it it is a language problem.

 

 

Mangosteen extinct? Who on earth wrote that.? (lthough it soon might be if I keep eating so many.)

haha... then @jeffrey30 is half wrong and half correct?

"Mangosteen extinct? Who on earth wrote that.? (lthough it soon might be if I keep eating so many.)" 
- haha.. and blame me too if eating too many will cause it extinction.

[KennethT]

I LOVE mangosteen - it is my absolute favorite fruit.  Unfortunately, it is almost completely unavailable where I live, unless you consider the frozen kind, which I don't because they're disgusting.

 

I'll be in Vietnam in a couple weeks - hopefully I'll be able to find some when I'm there!

[Thanks for the Crepes]

I did like the Atoulfo mango that I had never had before, but found the description of it being less fibrous not so true after scraping the peels and seeds with my teeth, as is my wont.

 

I picked up a mango which is the one most on offer here from Mexico, but haven't been able through searching to give it a name. It's the only one I've ever had access to though, before finding a different variety in the Indian grocer. Woo woo! it was only 59 cents! This is the cheapest price I have ever seen in my life going back to when I saw my first mango. You can believe that If I did not live alone and also picked up local peaches, which have been really good this year, and black, tree-ripened plums, I would have bought many more mangos. This is probably the largest by a small margin of any of this variety I've ever seen. It must be a very good year for mangos in Mexico. I'm sure they are cheap as dirt there if they can get all the way up here with all the beaks that need wetting to get here.

 

I can't see where I said anything about the mulberry posts upthread. They are not sold that I know of anywhere commercially. When I lived in Virginia, we had cherry trees and a pear tree in out back yard, and one of the neighbors had a mulberry tree in their front yard. I used to eat them off the tree as a kid despite the warnings that I would be instantly poisoned. I don't know where this notion came from here, but it was pervasive, at least back then. I ate a carload of them over the season, though, and they're definitely not harmful. I only ate a few initially after all the other kids' dire warnings, but after that, I was on them. Strangely, even in the face of empirical evidence, the other kids never abandoned their erroneous belief. Has anyone heard of mulberries being on commercial offer here in the US, even in restaurants?

 

Also I saw some unripe raspberries growing wild on the trek to the grocer today. They are right by the trailhead that starts across a series of three railroad tracks at a cut-through I use where they closed off automobile access a few years ago. It saves me going over a mile out of the way, but I'm willing to bet birds and other wildlife will get those berries before I do. I bet they will be good though. There are also a bunch of grapevines further down the route. Like everything else this year, with all the rain we've had, they are really thriving.

Edited June 29, 2017 by Thanks for the Crepes
take out blank space (log)

[kayb]

6 hours ago, Thanks for the Crepes said:

 

Also I saw some unripe raspberries growing wild on the trek to the grocer today. They are right by the trailhead that starts across a series of three railroad tracks at a cut-through I use where they closed off automobile access a few years ago. It saves me going over a mile out of the way, but I'm willing to bet birds and other wildlife will get those berries before I do. I bet they will be good though. There are also a bunch of grapevines further down the route. Like everything else this year, with all the rain we've had, they are really thriving.

 

 

Are the grapevines wild? If so, they're probably muscadines, which are wonderful and make the second-best jelly in the world, or, even better, scuppernongs, or white/gold muscadines, which make the BEST jelly in the world. 

 

When I was a little kid, my mother and I would go swimming in the nearby lake. One day she wandered off and found a patch of ripe scuppernongs. She went through the car looking for something to pick them in, found nothing. Not to be deterred (it was 10 miles, much of it on a gravel road, back home), she took off the capri pants she was wearing over her bathing suit, tied knots in the legs, and we picked them full.

 

Best jelly ever. EVER.

 

[Thanks for the Crepes]

Yes, @kayb, I love muscadines and scuppernongs. They are native here, and it's only the past couple of years that they started showing up in grocery stores, but the year before that, I found them in, of all places, the Asian grocer. I bought twelve pounds that year. It was the first time I'd had them since I broke up with a long ago boyfriend who's family had both kinds growing on their land. No one else liked them. More for me.  I love tart fruit, but most people seem to like a sweeter flavor profile.

 

Great story about your mom's solution to getting the scuppernongs home.

 

And yes, the grapevines are wild, as are the raspberries. You would not believe how verdant it is here this year, after several years of drought, that is so refreshing.

[KennethT]

Just got these today while on vacation... 1 kilo for about $3.50...

[Darienne]

6 hours ago, KennethT said:

Just got these today while on vacation... 1 kilo for about $3.50...

Sorry.  I'm from the far frozen north and don't recognize what these are.  Thanks. 

[KennethT]

@DarienneThis is my favorite fruit of all time.. mangosteen. I'm from NY so I never see these at home, aside from frozen ones available in Chinatown for around $10 for 3 pcs.. And they're vpreviously frozen and horrible!  Unfortunately, they seem to only be available fresh in Asia, and they are primarily grown in SE Asia, like Malaysia and Thailand...

Edited June 30, 2017 by KennethT (log)

[TicTac]

Love Mangosteen's as well - luckily with such a diverse population in Toronto, they are easily found at Asian grocery stores.

 

My question to you knowledgeable folk, is how do you tell if they are ripe (and not rotten - which sadly I find too often...)?

[KennethT]

The vendor at the market today did it by feel. She gave each one a squeeze before putting it in the bag. It should be firm but have some give to it when pressed with a finger around the equator. Then, when you release your finger, it should come back - sort of like pressing a rusen dough.

 

The funny thing is that in all the times I've bought them in SE asia, in several countries, I've never picked one myself. Always, the market vendor does it and it doesn't seem like they would let you do it if you wanted to.  Except, the one time I got them in a supermarket in Bangkok, at my concierge's suggestion... There they had them in mesh bags... They were among the most expensive ones I've had and definitely the worst quality. Those market ladies know what they're doing.

[liuzhou]

Mangosteens are also among my favourite fruits and there are those who will wish me intense harm when I say that I've only ever had them fresh and it's the season now. 

 

We pick out our selection here both in markets and supermarkets. 

 

As to testing their freshness, I rely a lot on the old "know your supplier" principle, but in addition employ a squeeze and scratch method. A squeeze should react as in the post above. If more than usually suspicious, a light scratch should reveal that the purple skin is still slightly moist (leaking purple juices, which are sadly beautiful but inedible.) A dry skin is not a good sign. Nor would be a mushy one.

Edited August 20, 2017 by liuzhou (log)

[chromedome]

2 hours ago, Darienne said:

Sorry.  I'm from the far frozen north and don't recognize what these are.  Thanks. 

I've found them in Superstore.

[KennethT]

While I am eating them by the boatload now, I am jealous of those eho can get them anytime they want while in season. Unfortunately, the US has yhis ridiculous notion that importing fresh fruit from Asia will either eradicate humans as a species or will bring our economy to a grinding halt. So they can only be imported as frozen.

 

Mangosteens are notoriously difficult to cultivate.. An enterprising farmer tried to create sn orchard in Puerto Rico (thus enabling direct import into US fresh) but the trees nevrr took... Plus it takes the tree years from planting to fruit set, so it's a big investement - especially considering if it might not take hold at all.

[helenjp]

A funny thing about fuyu persimmons - their color deepens when exposed to acid food such as yogurt. This means that a yogurt-dressed bowl of mango and persimmon with a few thin quartered slices of lime starts out as a boring bowl of yellow chunks, and overnight turns into a beautiful range of yellows and oranges. 

I'm happy that it's July - in June there is not much fruit in Tokyo that has not been in cold storage. So it's gather loquats while you can, and roll on Asian pears and peaches!

[Thanks for the Crepes]

I love fruit, but this is ridiculous!

 

Fortunately this is a very abundant and good local fruit season right now. I just had another lovely peach at the modest price of $1.49 a pound.

 

 

[liuzhou]

I went a bit over the top in the fruit market today. Three weeks of not being there due to my incarceration by the medics had to be made up for.Still it's a lot for one person to get through.

 

 

In the bowl mangoes and a lonely apple. Clockwise from 12 noon. Bananas, mangosteens, cape gooseberries, green lemons, cherries, longan.

 

Then I remembered there is half a melon in the fridge.

Edited July 16, 2017 by liuzhou (log)

[IowaDee]

What a lovely arrangement!  A painting waiting to happen.  Makes me want to get out my long dried up paints and have a go at it.  

[Thanks for the Crepes]

I had a couple of disappointing purchases at Harris Teeter today. The first was Concord grapes. I saw them on sale in the flyer for $3.00 a pound, and my first thought was, it is awfully early for Concords. No matter, I dismissed it and it was the first purchase I put in my cart. I also bought a 1 pound clamshell of Campari tomatoes without really looking at them, because they have been so good that I have not been tempted by any other tomatoes except for some "heirlooms" which looked the part, were juicy, but were an epic fail in the flavor department. 

 

The "Concords" in the clamshell were smaller than I'm used to and were sold alongside even smaller "Champagne" grapes for the same price. I popped them into the cart in great anticipation. Concords are probably my very favorite grape followed by purple muscadines and scuppernongs.

 

I get my purchases home, and one of the very first things I do is pop open the clamshell of Concords, wash some and set them on the counter so I can pick them off as put away the rest of the supplies. I knew immediately something was dreadfully wrong. I wolfed the first one without thinking, but after I completed the task I was involved in, I wondered why I hadn't had to spit out a seed. So ... I went to look at the labeling, and sure enough these are Pure Valley Farms seedless Concords from Dinuba, CA. Too sweet, not tart enough, not what I was expecting, but my bad for not investigating earlier. I am sure they're engineered to appeal to more mainstream people and will probably be very successful. They do have more flavor than regular Thompson green seedless or the red seedless. Just don't buy them if you are looking for the tough skinned, tart experience of a real Concord. I also liked that they are forthcoming with the fact that their grapes are treated with sulpher dioxide.

 

(Aside: Pepperidge Farm cookies that I also bought divulge they are made partially with genetic engineering. Another thing I found out at home after my scurry.)

 

The Campari's were also my bad. There was a rotten, moldy one in a bottom corner of the clamshell, which if I had turned it up to look at, like I usually do, I would have seen and never purchased the container. Several others are infected enough to have to pare off bad parts and eat tomorrow or not at all. I washed them all and let them dry thoroughly. We'll see.

 

There was a 20% chance of thunderstorms and I was congratulating myself on making such good time and not getting rained on or struck by lightening on my 4 mile walking excursion. Until I had a chance to properly inspect my purchases.   Note to self: take time to inspect produce even if several people have been struck dead by lightening in the past week or so. We have the second highest lightening casualty rate in the nation, so I was scampering. My muscles ache. No pain, no gain, right. Well this one ought to be a pretty good gainer. 

 

They have dragon fruit on offer at Harris Teeter, and they are interesting and beautiful. I passed since I have heard they do not have a lot of flavor and are quite expensive at HT. I have never tasted one and just may do it next time just because of that.

 

I bought a some yellow peaches, nectarines and pluots at Food Lion yesterday. Hopefully, some of these stone fruits will be good. I bypassed the "local" table for peaches because they were so bad and overripe/mealy last time. Coons got most of the five I bought and lovingly carried home on foot last time. They will eat nearly anything. That's okay though because the ones I bought earlier in the season were really divine. Juice dripping down the chin lovely.

 

I can't wait until the real Concords, muscadines and scuppernongs come in. So tart. So good!

[helenjp]

Dragonfruit - it's true, they don't have a lot of flavor of their own. I like them sliced in a small composed salad with green kiwifruit and cucumber slices. They are a natural bridge between the freshness of the cucumber and the sweetness of the kiwifruit. Tiny bit of vinaigrette and a few mint leaves to finish.

[KennethT]

@helenjp Try a little chili and salt with it!

[KennethT]

@liuzhou I could go through those mangosteens and one or two of those mangoes in one sitting!

[liuzhou]

Just now, KennethT said:

@liuzhou I could go through those mangosteens and one or two of those mangoes in one sitting!

 

I did.

[shain]

Carefully picked prickly pears - that's a dangerous fruit (although I never yet heard of someone killed by it, so coconuts stay on top).

A good trick is to quickly burn the sharp bristles, then wash well to remove any left.

When served well chilled, they definetly worth the trouble.

Edited March 5, 2018 by shain (log)

[Thanks for the Crepes]

I am enjoying my first muscadine grapes of the year. They are not as tart as they can be, so I'm hoping later ones will be more like the way I like them, but these are very good.

 

I also picked up lychees. This was the first time I've had them, not even the canned ones, and these were fresh and had the red blush like the ones liuzhou has shown here on eG. I was so excited, but unfortunately, lychees did not leap onto my most preferred fruits list. Wiki says that the fresh ones should have a perfume-like flavor and these did not. Wiki also said that the red blush will turn brown under refrigeration, but should not affect the taste. Mine also had some weird brownish fibrous membranes at the stem end of the flesh near where it contacted the seed that could not be separated from the white flesh. These were not part of the seed coat, as the flesh came away cleanly and the seeds were dark brown and so shiny that I can imagine prehistoric peoples stringing them as beads for jewelry. My lychees are very juicy, but had no tart note that I so enjoy in fruits. Many thanks to @liuzhoufor his kind and generous pictorial (I believe on the Dinner thread) on how to peel and eat these fruits. Like all new and exciting experiences this was definitely worth doing. At my age, new and thrilling experiences are slim pickin's, and I am very grateful for every single one.

 

My Lychees came from Patel Brothers and cost $2.99 for a mesh bag of 20 or 21. (I visually counted them twice and figured that was close enough. ) I reckon without weighing that they were between 12 oz. and a pound/.34 to .45 kilo. They were not attached to a branch as in liuzhou's photos, but rather individual fruits with a short and very tenacious stem attached. The only way to get the stem off was to peel the fruit, which was easy once an initial cut was made (though I had to use a knife instead of a fingernail). The stem still clung stubbornly to the separated peel.

 

I also saw beautiful dragon fruit again at Harris Teeter. They are $4.99 a pop! I passed again, since I had plenty of other interesting fruit to eat and that price sure puts me off. I can't deny the exotic beauty of these fruits, though. I also might like the texture too, because while some hate the texture of seeded eggplant, that is one of the attractions to me. I just love the little round Thai eggplants, when I can find them. So dragon fruit is still on the list of things to try.

 

I do hope I run across mangosteens one day, though. The descriptions of the taste as sweet and sour is squarely in my wheelhouse.

 

After looking at: 

On 7/16/2017 at 4:45 AM, liuzhou said:

I went a bit over the top in the fruit market today. Three weeks of not being there due to my incarceration by the medics had to be made up for.Still it's a lot for one person to get through.

 

 

In the bowl mangoes and a lonely apple. Clockwise from 12 noon. Bananas, mangosteens, cape gooseberries, green lemons, cherries, longan.

 

Then I remembered there is half a melon in the fridge.

 

liuzhou's beautiful fruit arrangement with the cape gooseberries, I really regret not getting the ones that I found a couple of times a few months back at Harris Teeter. Those were yellow and round, apparently already stripped of their husks, and I knew nothing about them, so left them in the store. Now looking at them in there little "papery husks" as Rick Bayless loves to say about tart tomatillos, I think these may be right up my alley too, and will be keeping an eye out for them.

 

Does anyone care to comment on Asian pears? They used to have cases and cases in the Korean owned now defunct S-Mart pan-Asian grocer near me, and they seemed very popular. When I tried them they seemed bland and mealy in texture.

[liuzhou]

On 19/03/2017 at 5:26 PM, liuzhou said:

People know what strawberries should taste like - it seems Driscoll's doesn't.

 

Interesting article on Driscoll's from the New Yorker

How Driscoll’s Reinvented the Strawberry

 

This comment from a Driscoll's biochemist commenting on someone else's berry made me laugh. Sounds just like the Driscoll's fruit I've encountered.
 

Quote

What I was enjoying was overripe, he said pityingly, and wouldn’t survive the weekend.

 

Sadder is that they proudly say they breed berries for looks rather than taste.

Edited August 24, 2017 by liuzhou (log)