Fruit Maven » heart 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 Sexy Fruit for Valentine’s Day http://fruitmaven.com/2010/02/sexy-fruit-for-valentines-day/ http://fruitmaven.com/2010/02/sexy-fruit-for-valentines-day/#comments Fri, 12 Feb 2010 14:18:37 +0000 Fruit Maven http://fruitmaven.com/?p=1697 There is something sexy, enticing and adventurous about fruit. In some ways trying a new fruit is like falling in love. It requires abandon and risk. You have to search for it and once found, you have to be patient and careful so you don’t bruise or damage the beautiful nectar inside. Sometimes it works out and you have the most amazing experience, and sometimes you just end up wondering why you wasted so much time admiring something so dull that when you really think about it, kind of smells like vomit.

And so in the spirit of love and Valentine’s Day, I say ditch the flowers and party it up with FRUIT. There are lots of ways to go, so you have no excuses.

Sweet Hearts:
Seckel Pears, Cherimoyas

dsc_0627-small Dr. White Cherimoya

Not-So-Traditional Flowers:
Mangosteen, Ugli Fruit

sliced-mangosteen uglifruit-and-lime

Symbols of Love:
Passion Fruit, Pomegranate

passion-fruit Wonderful Pomegranate

Seductive Aphrodisiacs:
Figs, Apples

brown turkey figs blushing-gold-apples

Direct and to the Point:
Banana, Papaya

Manzano Banana papaya ]]> http://fruitmaven.com/2010/02/sexy-fruit-for-valentines-day/feed/ 3 Dr. White Cherimoya http://fruitmaven.com/2009/12/dr-white-cherimoya/ http://fruitmaven.com/2009/12/dr-white-cherimoya/#comments Tue, 15 Dec 2009 17:55:29 +0000 Fruit Maven http://fruitmaven.com/?p=1099 If you start each day listening to Hearts on Fire and telling yourself you really are the greatest, then this is the fruit for you!
APPEARANCE 4 out of 5 stars

Heart shaped green fruit with smooth scales, big enough that I wanted to use two hands to lift it (maybe 4-5 inches across), beige flesh with big black seeds.

AROMA 5 out of 5 stars

Extremely sweet and floral aroma reminiscent of vanilla, strawberries and banana. I can not stop bringing it up to my nose. Sooooo alluring. There should be perfume made of this. I am completely puzzled by the existence of pear perfume and not cherimoya. Weird.

TEXTURE 5 out of 5 stars

Smooth and creamy, slightly grainy like a soft pear.

TASTE 5 out of 5 stars

Tropical ice cream or pudding, just an insane mix of flavors from guava to banana to strawberry to pineapple all covered in a deep rich vanilla with a hint of spice.

OVERALL 4.75 out of 5 stars

This tastes like exotic, cool creme brulee. I can’t believe this comes off the tree this way and did not require hours of mixing and baking and hovering on my part. As you may know, I like fruit quite a lot, but this is the first fruit that has knocked me over with love, particularly since it looks like a heart when you cut it in half. SWOON. It really is amazing. Find it and eat it.

FRUIT

Cherimoya

VARIETY

Dr. White

PEAK

Winter

ORIGIN

Ecuador,Columbia,Bolivia

GROWN

California

PURCHASED

Farmer’s Market

NOTES

Cherimoya is also called custard apple but of all the fruit flavors present here, apple isn’t really one of them so I am rejecting that name. You will see in the top picture a slightly different looking cherimoya with little nubs or nipples. That one has a pretty different flavor profile and I will talk about it later. I am giving you a few recipes below, but I personally can’t imagine changing one thing about this fruit other than eating it raw or maybe chilled a bit. Well, I would change one thing…those two cherimoyas cost me $12. Worth it? Yes. But highway robbery nonetheless.

RECIPES

Cherimoya Milkshake
Cherimoya Pancakes (scroll down)

]]> http://fruitmaven.com/2009/12/dr-white-cherimoya/feed/ 3 Seckel Pear http://fruitmaven.com/2009/12/seckel-pear/ http://fruitmaven.com/2009/12/seckel-pear/#comments Thu, 10 Dec 2009 16:24:34 +0000 Fruit Maven http://fruitmaven.com/?p=943 If you think the partridge is in the pear tree because he passionately loves pears, then this is the fruit for you! dsc_0627-small
APPEARANCE 4.5 out of 5 stars

Very small pear, only about two inches high and a bit tubby around the mid-section, bronze and ruby skin with white flesh

AROMA 3 out of 5 stars

Slightly grassy, fresh smell

TEXTURE 4 out of 5 stars

Tight skin with meltingly cream and juicy flesh

TASTE 4.5 out of 5 stars

The peel has that typical dry, gritty mouth-feel that seems more like a flavor to me than a texture. The flesh is amazingly sweet with concentrated pear flavor

OVERALL 4 out of 5 stars

This is a gorgeous and delicious little snacker. Everything about this pear makes me feel romantic. I mean it is also called the Sugar Pear. Come here Sugar! So delicious and so cute, it even looks like a heart when you slice it in half. I just want to snuggle. If seeing this pear doesn’t make your heart melt, then I dare say you may have no heart because that is just not possible.

FRUIT

Pear

VARIETY

Seckel

PEAK

Fall-Winter

ORIGIN

Pennsylvania

GROWN

Unknown

PURCHASED

Grocery Store

NOTES

I was trying to find something about the partridge in the pear tree from the Twelve Days of Christmas song, when I stumbled across this fantastic lit bit of folklore. I knew I had to pass it along immediately to the many young maidens who read this site. So apparently, according to this site, which is recounting some other site, if you walk around a pear tree backwards three times on Christmas morning, then look up in to the branches, you will see an image of your future husband. My guess is that if you do this, we will have a bunch of women looking anxiously for short, squatty men with bronze skin and a weird wooden growth coming out of their head, but I could be wrong. Let me know ladies.

]]> http://fruitmaven.com/2009/12/seckel-pear/feed/ 0 Elephant Heart Plum http://fruitmaven.com/2009/10/elephant-heart-plum/ http://fruitmaven.com/2009/10/elephant-heart-plum/#comments Tue, 27 Oct 2009 11:05:02 +0000 Fruit Maven http://fruitmaven.com/?p=349 If you are the kind of person who peels grapes and tells kids they are eyeballs right before you eat them, then this is the fruit for you! elephant-heart-plum
APPEARANCE 5 out of 5 stars

Kind of ugly mottled brown on the outside, gorgeous heart shape with gory looking blood red flesh and juice

AROMA 3 out of 5 stars

Very faint grassy fragrance

TEXTURE 5 out of 5 stars

Perfectly soft and juicy — like eating a real heart! (assuming here that hearts are soft and juicy – seems like they should be, does it not?)

TASTE 4.5 out of 5 stars

Perfectly sweet flavor with only the slightest bit of tartness to balance it out

OVERALL 4.38 out of 5 stars

When I first saw this plum I thought it was kind of goofy looking. Being the vain girl that I am, I only noticed the weird browness of it and completely missed the fantastic heartness of it. Then I cut it open and wholy wowzers–I fell in love. October has brought great things to the world, my birthday being one and Halloween being the other. Now I can add dressing up as a witch and carrying one of these around to scare young children. I’ve been dreaming about it all week. mwah ha ha.

FRUIT

Plum

VARIETY

Elephant Heart

PEAK

Summer-Fall

ORIGIN

Japan

GROWN

California

PURCHASED

Grocery Store

NOTES

More about the Elephant Heart Plum.

More about beloved elephants (whose hearts we do not eat – no we do not).

]]> http://fruitmaven.com/2009/10/elephant-heart-plum/feed/ 0