Fruit Maven » fall http://fruitmaven.com Your guide through the wild world of fruit. Thu, 24 Jun 2010 15:07:50 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.1 en hourly 1 Atemoya http://fruitmaven.com/2010/03/atemoya/ http://fruitmaven.com/2010/03/atemoya/#comments Fri, 05 Mar 2010 21:03:24 +0000 Fruit Maven http://fruitmaven.com/?p=1985 If you are still hoping to find your prince by kissing a little tree frog, then this is the fruit for you!

Atemoyas, a cross between the cherimoya and the soursop, look like tumorous little forest creatures but taste like  tropical flowers. Eating one is a pure delight, but so is reading about it. Take this page for example, a scientific description for all intents and purposes, but it takes the atemoya to a whole new level (for me at least, but I’m a bit nerdy that way). I don’t know about you but these kind of details just make me blush (are they seriously talking about the picture below?): delicate apex, creamy lines around the areoles, elliptical, less hairy, prominent and angular, firm, pliable, fragrant…wowza! Fruit can be very inappropriate.

atemoya
APPEARANCE 2.5 out of 5 stars

Dusty green, wobbly, gnarled looking fruit with tan flesh and gorgeous black seeds.

AROMA 5 out of 5 stars

Sweet, tropical and floral. Luscious, luscious, luscious.

TEXTURE 4.5 out of 5 stars

Very slightly fibrous, slightly grainy (like a pear), yet creamy and juicy at the same time.

TASTE 5 out of 5 stars

Mix of sweet pineapple, pear, banana and strawberry.

OVERALL 4.25 out of 5 stars

Extremely delicious fruit. Just about as yummy as you can get. Atemoyas are sweet and bright and delicate. I’m not sure I can tell the difference between this and the cherimoya particularly, although I’m not tasting them side by side.

FRUIT
Atemoya		 PEAK
Unclear (Fall – but they are at the Farmer’s Market now!)		 PURCHASED
Farmer’s Market
VARIETY
Unknown		 GROWN
Rainbow, CA		  

]]> http://fruitmaven.com/2010/03/atemoya/feed/ 2 Carambola http://fruitmaven.com/2010/02/carambola/ http://fruitmaven.com/2010/02/carambola/#comments Tue, 23 Feb 2010 05:06:34 +0000 Fruit Maven http://fruitmaven.com/?p=426 If you’re so healthy that you do that yoga with the heat turned up to 100 degrees and you feel guilty when you eat strawberries, then this is the fruit for you!

The Carambola, or Star Fruit, comes in tart varieties and sweet varieties. The sweet only has 4% sugar though (compared to a speckled and ripe banana, which can have up to 90% – yee haw!). So I’m thinking this so-called “fruit” really should surrender its title and just slink on over to the vegetable aisle. Perhaps it could just make friends with the rutabagas.

sliced-carambolas
APPEARANCE 5 out of 5 stars

Green and yellow cylindrical fruit in the shape of a star. Lots of brown edges and bruises.

AROMA 3 out of 5 stars

Lightly lemony.

TEXTURE 4 out of 5 stars

Firm, crunchy and juicy – a bit like a firm grape.

TASTE 3 out of 5 stars

This reminds me of a slightly sweet, slightly sour, juicy, lemony bell pepper.

OVERALL 3.75 out of 5 stars

This fruit just screams pizazz the second you see it.  And then you taste it…and it mumbles “meh”. On the bright side, it makes an amazing garnish and I’m sure it would liven up dessert soups and salads. But seriously, who cares about salad when you can slice these and put them on the edge of champagne glass. Oooh la la.

FRUIT
Carambola		 PEAK
All Year		 PROVIDED BY
Specialty Produce
VARIETY
Unknown		 GROWN
California		 Specialty_Produce_logo

RECIPES

Pickled Carambola
Dessert Pizza with Mango, Peaches and Star Fruit

]]> http://fruitmaven.com/2010/02/carambola/feed/ 2 Bartlett Pear http://fruitmaven.com/2010/01/bartlett-pear/ http://fruitmaven.com/2010/01/bartlett-pear/#comments Sun, 31 Jan 2010 22:44:06 +0000 Keri http://fruitmaven.com/?p=1491 If there are at least three different bottles of hand sanitizer within 20 feet of you at all times, then this is the fruit for you! Bartlett Pears
APPEARANCE 4 out of 5 stars

Nice yellow and red skin, gets lots of bruises though so be gentle.

AROMA 4.5 out of 5 stars

Full and fragrant, sultry pear.

TEXTURE 4 out of 5 stars

Perfectly firm but giving; slightly grainy, like most pears.

TASTE 3.5 out of 5 stars

The quintessential pear – nothing detracting but nothing I would go on about either. At least it doesn’t have the papery skin or a bitter aftertaste.

OVERALL 4 out of 5 stars

This is a prissy person’s pear. It tastes very good but doesn’t drip juice all over you (though there is plenty of juice, don’t get me wrong). It discolors easily so there is value in taking great care when transporting it or it will look like the morning consequences of a late night brawl. Also it is normal enough that assuming you haven’t bruised the hell out of it, no attention will be drawn when you slice and eat it with a fork and knife. It’s everything someone uptight needs in an afternoon snack.

FRUIT

Pear

VARIETY

Bartlett

PEAK

Fall-Winter

GROWN

Unknown

PURCHASED

Grocery Store

NOTES

I was about to dismiss this pear as forgettably normal, when I came across this article. Apparently the Bartlett is the same as the Williams Pear, which is the very pear that is used for Williams Pear Schnapps, aka “au de vie of poire williams”. (Don’t I just sound so much more impressive when I say it in French? Yes, I am also currently wearing a tiara.) So of course this immediately caught my cocktail loving attention. Unfortunately, every site I found explaining how to make pear liquor of one kind or another requires crazy things like meat grinders and hammers, growing pears inside a glass bottle, or having access to something called “acid blend“. Fun? Yes. Gonna happen? No. Let me know if you give it a whirl. In the meantime I will be checking out all the pear cocktails on this dedicated pear cocktail blog. And you thought a site about fruit was a narrow niche. Au contraire.

RECIPES

Butternut Squash and Bartlett Pear Soup
Bartlett Pear Muffins (this is an entire site dedicated to pears!)

]]> http://fruitmaven.com/2010/01/bartlett-pear/feed/ 2 Manzano Banana http://fruitmaven.com/2010/01/manzano-banana/ http://fruitmaven.com/2010/01/manzano-banana/#comments Tue, 26 Jan 2010 04:39:57 +0000 Keri http://fruitmaven.com/?p=1152 If your new year’s resolution was to increase your ability to wait and wait and wait and wait and… wait, then this is the fruit for you! Manzano Banana
APPEARANCE 4 out of 5 stars

Totally cute, small, yellow banana with pale, off-white flesh.

AROMA 4 out of 5 stars

Strong, flowery, banana fragrance with a little bit of something bright, maybe pineapple.

TEXTURE 3 out of 5 stars

Soft with a cool feel. Dry!

TASTE 4.5 out of 5 stars

Yummy combination of banana and pineapple and maybe a bit of strawberry.

OVERALL 3.88 out of 5 stars

This is a diva of a banana if ever I saw one. You have to wait to eat it until the skin is black (not just a little black: BLACK) otherwise it is just “blah” with a tannic aftertaste. But, if you wait (and I mean WAIT – like three weeks well past what you think is a reasonable wait for a banana) then you will be rewarded with a tropical disco in your mouth — smooth, creamy, pineapply, strawberry, banana love. Oh and then the taste will linger and linger until eventually you think, “What is that weird flavor in my mouth? Oh – Is it STILL that banana? Good lord!” (This banana made me wait so long to eat it that I am overwhelmed with the use of ALLCAPS).

FRUIT

Banana

VARIETY

Manzano

PEAK

All Year

GROWN

Colombia

PURCHASED

Grocery Store

NOTES

Some think the banana is good for fertility (hmm), while others are so convinced that the banana is bad luck that they won’t even let their comrades wear fruit of the loom undies.  These seem like a tragic confluence of the two.

]]> http://fruitmaven.com/2010/01/manzano-banana/feed/ 0 Limequat http://fruitmaven.com/2010/01/limequat/ http://fruitmaven.com/2010/01/limequat/#comments Wed, 20 Jan 2010 04:41:37 +0000 Fruit Maven http://fruitmaven.com/?p=1427 If you like to leap before you look, then this is the fruit for you! Limequat
APPEARANCE 3 out of 5 stars

Petite (diameter of a quarter); pale yellow skin and flesh with the slightest green tint; lots of seeds.

AROMA 3.5 out of 5 stars

Bright, fresh, lime. Nice and not overwhelming.

TEXTURE 4 out of 5 stars

Thin, giving but firm skin (edible), with soft, juicy flesh.

TASTE 3 out of 5 stars

Crazy sour and extremely astringent. The peel has a nice candied lime taste, but it is overwhelmed by even the smallest amount of juice.

OVERALL 3.38 out of 5 stars

I hate to be harsh toward any fruit, particularly one that is so divine in a cocktail, but this limequat punched me in the face when we first met and I just can’t get over it. I’m not saying it wasn’t my fault, because it totally was. Being the fruit expert, or maven, that I am, I heard the word “limequat” and saw that it was the same size as a kumquat and got extremely cocky about my assumptions of the flavor. I picked these babies up from Specialty Produce (who got them just for me, by the way – walla walla!) and was so excited that when I got to the car and was driving away, I reached into the bag and took a hearty bite right through the skin and into the flesh. Oh my heavens, was I then punished for my confidence. It was the most astringent thing I have ever tasted in my life. It burned my throat to the point that I literally coughed for the next 10 minutes, while my red eyes just dripped with tears. I wanted so badly to laugh at myself, but the convulsions and the fact that I was simultaneously driving 65 mph (precisely the speed limit of course) required that I focus and just try not to hit anyone. Lesson learned: Limequats can be devious.

FRUIT

Limequat

VARIETY

Unknown

PEAK

Fall-Winter

ORIGIN

China

GROWN

Rancho Del Sol
Jamul, CA

PROVIDED BY

Specialty Produce
Specialty_Produce_logo

NOTES

Please just re-read the overall impression above and take the lesson to heart. Fruit is to be respected! Do not underestimate The Fruit. Ever.

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