Sexy Fruit for Valentine’s Day

Fruit Maven — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 14:18:37 +0000

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

Not-So-Traditional Flowers:
Mangosteen, Ugli Fruit

Symbols of Love:
Passion Fruit, Pomegranate

Seductive Aphrodisiacs:
Figs, Apples

Direct and to the Point:
Banana, Papaya

Purple Mangosteen

Fruit Maven — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 23:24:22 +0000

If you own a t-shirt that says “Queen Bee” and people bring you gifts in hope of gaining your approval, then this is the fruit for you!

APPEARANCE 5 out of 5 stars

People! Fruit doesn’t get much cooler than this. The bottom of the hard, leathery skin has a flower. The number of petals on the flower will match the number of bright white segments of flesh inside. Hazzah!Plus it has the cutest little stem.

AROMA 5 out of 5 stars

Smells like sweet, slightly acidic, tropical flowers. Divine.

TEXTURE 2.5 out of 5 stars

Thick exterior shell that was soft in spots and quite hard in others. I’ve read that they are pretty soft when picked from the tree and harden over the next few days. Flesh is soft and stringy, somewhat slimy with each segment having either a tough center or a seed.

TASTE 4 out of 5 stars

Very sweet, slightly bitter and medicinal. Kind of tastes like mature fruit punch.

OVERALL 4.13 out of 5 stars

If I had to guess, I would say these are probably amazing when picked perfectly ripe, right off the tree, because there is a lot of potential here. They have an extremely interesting and exotic flavor but the texture and difficulty of cutting into them is a big drawback for me. The fact that the flower petals match the number of segments inside is just phenomenol. A vase full of these for Valentine’s Day would make my heart explode. Ba-bye red roses, there’s a new diva in town.

FRUIT

Mangosteen

VARIETY

n/a

PEAK

Summer/Winter

GROWN

Unknown

PROVIDED BY

Specialty Produce

NOTES

This is a high maintenance and sexy piece of fruit. It also goes by the name “Queen of Fruits“, which is about as pretentious a nickname as you can get. Apparently Queen Victoria used to offer one hundred pounds to anyone who could bring her fresh Mangosteens. When I bought some of these at the asian market last week, the woman stopped in the middle of ringing up my items, held up the bag and looked me straight in the eye, “You know these cost $14 right?” “um…yes.” “You still want them?” “Oh yes, I plan to sell them to Queen Victoria.”

RECIPES

Mangosteen Clafouti
Thai Beef and Mangosteen Soup

WHERE TO GET THEM

When in season, you can buy Mangosteen at some asian grocery stores and online here. If you get them online, a small amount will go to support the Fruit Maven. So thanks in advance!

Fruit Maven » valentine