APPEARANCE Rating:
This fruit wins high marks just for the creep factor – long, bumpy yellow monster fingers. Green at first, then ripens to a nice lemony yellow – white pith and no flesh (some do have a small amount of flesh, but this one didn’t)
AROMA Rating:
Intoxicating, perfumy, lemony goodness. I’ve been considering picking my boogers with it, except that then it isn’t in my nose for very long. But seriously – doesn’t it seem like someone should market this for that purpose?
TEXTURE Rating:
Dry, soft pith that feels a bit like ultrasuede to touch, like a slightly soft, though still crunchy, radish in the mouth
TASTE Rating:
Complicated lemon flavor that isn’t sour. The peel has only the tiniest bit of bitterness, the pith is fairly mellow. Very nice actually.
OVERALL Overall Rating:
I have bought Buddha’s Hand many times and never ever have I considered biting in to one raw before now. I always chop them up and throw them in to some sugar water for candying and using in cookies. Nothing about this particularly ghoulish fruit screams out “eat me raw”. However, now that I have bitten in to the thing – I am shocked. I like it. I feel like Mikey in that old Life Cereal commercial. “Maven likes it! Maven likes it!” That being said, I can’t be bothered with eating this thing – it is way too fun to use it as a fake claw and chase people around. Now that I know I can happily bite off one of the fingers – all the better.
FRUIT
Citron
VARIETY
Buddha’s Hand
PEAK
Fall
ORIGIN
India
GROWN
California
PURCHASED
Farmer’s Market
NOTES
Also known as Five Fingered Mandarin, Fingered Citron and my personal favorite, Goblin Fingers. History
Never seen this in real life, but it’s certainly interesting!
Thanks Herbert! I’m flattered.
Is this going to be in season for Halloween then? Sounds fun!