When I’m allowed to go to the grocery store by myself and I have the time to poke around I tend to come back with things that we’ve never tried before, and I especially like doing that with weird and wonderful fruits. On this day I brought back a quince (with which I was somewhat familiar), two tamarillos, and a horned melon (otherwise known as a kiwano).
Sometimes my experiments with new fruit end poorly (remember the cherimoya incident?). And of course I didn’t do any research before I cracked these babies open (hindsight is 20/20).
In this case, though, I didn’t need to prepare ahead of time and just dove right in. I should have realized the quince was completely unripe just by touching it. Similar to an apple or pear, it was so hard and sour that I’ve put it in the fridge in the hopes that I can stew it into something less objectionable with a lot of sugar.
I think I liked the tamarillos best of the whole thing. The skin tastes terrible, so don’t eat it, but you can scoop out the seeds and a bit of the inner flesh and to me it tastes like a combination of passion fruit and persimmon.
The kiwano was harder to get into but I went with my instincts and I’d picked a nice ripe one. The seeds squeeze out and taste kind of like a cucumber mixed with a banana.
What new foods have you tried recently?
nice fruit
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Love your weird fruit Wednesday. Years and years ago when I lived in NY state, I had a quince bush. I don’t recall them ever softening up much, but I cooked them and made the most wonderful jelly. No pectin needed! Awwwww….now I crave some quince jelly.
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That is my sum total of quince knowledge: that they grow on a bush and that they make great jelly. I wonder if I can make jelly with just one?
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While I was in Hong Kong I tried Dragon Fruit and Star Fruit. They were so nice and fresh there. When I came back to the states I wanted to try them again (specifically star fruit), but couldn’t find them anywhere and when I did they just weren’t very good. It’s great that you were able to find these interesting fruit!!
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I LOVE dragon fruit and star fruit. We have a bunch of Chinese grocery stores here so those are pretty readily available … they’re not cheap though!
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I didn’t even know these things existed! o.O
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So now I have learned you good!
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It’s always an experience trying new things! Though I’ve had artichokes in restaurants, I’ve never actually tried it at home. So the hubby and I tried it one weekend. We had to watch a You Tube video to see how to get the dang thing open and peeled. Honestly, it was a chore! Too much effort, with little reward. It was an experience but wouldn’t do it again!
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My parents and I used to eat artichokes outside in the garden in the summer. We’d pull the leaves off the steamed vegetable and dip them in butter. Then when we got to the heart we’d fight over who got it. Not very filling but so good!
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Ah! I tried to buy lychee fruit the other day here, and it was gross! I thought it was brown because it was a different variety than I was introduced to in Brazil. Which was incorrect. It was brown because it was really old. It grew a lot of white mold over a 24 hour period, and then I threw it away:(.
Internet research is important with fruit you’re not familiar with.
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Ew, super gross! I love lychees and I bought a bag of them recently and they were all bitter and I was so disappointed!
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The most (not so) unusual fruit I’ve tried is a kumquat. These look amazing! The inside of the tamarillo reminded me of a tomato. I’d love to try Dragon fruit one day.
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I love kumquats! They’re like little refreshing bites of orange (plus peel). I made a really poor attempt at kumquat marmelade once. It did not go well.
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That’s too bad! Kumquat marmalade sounds really good.
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Well it worked the second time after I ignored all the rules, but it was annoying to have to do it twice: https://alidoesit.wordpress.com/2011/02/23/kumquat-marmalade/
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Loved reading about your weird fruit Wednesday and the photos are great! I’ve heard of quince and tamarillo but never of the kiwano, I don’t recall ever seeing it in a shop here in the UK but I will keep an eye out for it now! Love the look of the inside but a cucumber banana combination is definitely weird 🙂
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It is a little bit odd, but once you get used to it, it’s quite refreshing!
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I am so intrigued by the tamarillos! I wonder if our Whole Foods has some?
Also, I know I am WAY late to the bandwagon on this, but over the last few months I have discovered polenta. My boyfriend has celiac disease, and I kept finding recipes that used it. I am just in love with it! You can use it in so many ways.
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Yeah it’s super versatile. I love to fry it up in little discs.
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I’m a picky eater who’s living vicariously through your Weird Fruit Wednesdays! Keep ’em coming!
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I will do my best!
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