Fruit Maven » spring 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 White Mulberry http://fruitmaven.com/2010/06/white-mulberry/ http://fruitmaven.com/2010/06/white-mulberry/#comments Mon, 21 Jun 2010 15:08:57 +0000 Fruit Maven http://fruitmaven.com/?p=2225 If you tend toward the macabre, then this is the fruit for you!

white-mulberries
APPEARANCE 1 out of 5 stars

Eww.

AROMA 2 out of 5 stars

Meh.

TEXTURE 4 out of 5 stars

Fine.

TASTE 4 out of 5 stars

SWEET!!! and a little more complicated than most of the black mulberries I have tried.

OVERALL 2.75 out of 5 stars

FRUIT
Mulberry		 PEAK
Spring/Summer		 PURCHASED
Farmer’s Market
VARIETY
White (likely Tehama)		 GROWN
California

]]> http://fruitmaven.com/2010/06/white-mulberry/feed/ 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 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 Frederick Passion Fruit http://fruitmaven.com/2010/01/frederick-passion-fruit/ http://fruitmaven.com/2010/01/frederick-passion-fruit/#comments Tue, 12 Jan 2010 23:00:33 +0000 Fruit Maven http://fruitmaven.com/?p=1368 If you always wanted to pick your nose and eat the boogers (we will just pretend you don’t do this every day in private), then this is the fruit for you! Frederick Passion Fruit
APPEARANCE 1.5 out of 5 stars

Extremely wrinkled, purplish, greenish, reddish oval fruit about the size of the palm of my hand (I know you don’t really know how big that is, just guess). Bright yellow goo (flesh) with dark seeds.

AROMA 5 out of 5 stars

Exotic and heady. I want to bathe in this smell.

TEXTURE 1.5 out of 5 stars

Gelatinous and seedy with a good amount of juice. Extremely odd texture compared to most fruit.

TASTE 4 out of 5 stars

Pretty tart, in fact I would say it comes dangerously close to being sour. Tropical and pineapple-y and lemon-y and delicious.

OVERALL 3 out of 5 stars

This is one instance where my structured rating system sort of fails me. I largely rate on snackability and this one is pretty low as far as that goes. Plus it looks hideous, has an extremely odd texture and is lobbying for the “most annoying seeds of all time” award (other competitors: Wonderful Pomegranate and Cocktail Grapefruit). However, it tastes completely amazing. I’ve never had anything like it and I want to sprinkle a little bit of it into everything I am drinking, pour it on top of ice cream, dip cookies in it, spread it on grilled cheese sandwiches and – oh my it is just delicious. I am smitten.

FRUIT

Passion Fruit

VARIETY

Frederick

PEAK

All Year (intermittent)

ORIGIN

South America

GROWN

Vista, CA

PURCHASED

Farmer’s Market

NOTES

I am struggling to write notes on this because seeing the word “Frederick” next to “Passion” reminds me clearly of Frederick’s of Hollywood. But the interesting folklore about passion fruit is all about how the flower is a representation of Christ and the Crucifixion Somehow it seems inappropriate to talk about both of these things in such close proximity. Oh well–too late now.

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