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heirloomgal
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Do the plants ever go to seed?
They never have ..Do the plants ever go to seed?
I hope so. These aren't any of the major ones. They're Pearl chestnuts and Chinese Chinquapins (both went in, don't know which, if not both, came up) which are more like shrubs than trees.Chestnuts, that's not the average kind of seed. I guess the tree will be hardy in your location?
Jackfruit is very sweet. The best way I can describe the flavor is like a banana, but juicy.Jackfruit, something I've always wanted to try...fresh. Same with papaya, guava, jelly melon, cactus fruits, figs, mangosteen, durian. I see them in the stores and the price never seems justified for an experiment. I did try quince though, but a single fruit is nearly $4. It's certainly a tasty fruit when cooked.
Hard to sat. I can give you a long list of ones I DON'T think are worth the cost, but as for ones that are, that's a much shorter one, and vaguer.Dragonfruit is the fruit of a cactus? I had no idea. I tried it once a long time ago, I recall it being mildly sweet with white flesh that seemed embedded with kiwi seeds. The look of it's exterior is wild.
I've tried litchis too, which I really grew to like, and I will buy those if I see them on the shelves. Never seen rambutans outside of being canned, seems like the hairy cousin somehow. But I don't love them like I do apples or pears or grapes; in abundance they're a bit too perfume-y and when it comes to anything sweet I always prefer the pleasures of home. I love food from many cuisines around the world, but the sweets are all mostly a pass for me. Few things can beat apple pie et. al. to me, hits the soul in all the right places. I used to have a thing for besan burfi and made it all the time, but that affection passed long ago. I think it reminded me of peanut butter, which is forbidden in Ayurveda, which I was into at the time. I tried to teach myself to like Shrikhand and it was easy to make. Texture of it is good, but the undertow of sour can't be covered over. And saffron which is so commonly added to it, never appealed to me.
Of all the exotic fruits, which do you feel are the ones most worth trying considering the price tags attached? Seems to me figs might be worth it, but here you have to buy them by the box if you want to try them fresh. I've eaten them dried, and they were passable at best. I'd be stuck with a whole box if nobody likes them.
Very interesting @Pulsegleaner. You've tried so many exotic fruits! Your post actually reminded me of things I've tried and forgot about, like starfruit. Those used to be very ubiquitous, now I never see them. I did like them somewhat, but each fruit was a hit or miss and there seemed a wide variation in taste between each, many leaning toward a bit too sour. And calamondin, yes, I bought a little clamshell of those once and indeed very tasty and fragrant even though I peeled them by accident, not knowing how to eat them. That is one I'd buy again, should I find it somewhere.Hard to sat. I can give you a long list of ones I DON'T think are worth the cost, but as for ones that are, that's a much shorter one, and vaguer.
A lot of the ones I'd recommend are a few of the milder citrus. Dekapons (usually called Sumo Mandarins) in this county, are generally pretty good, and it's nice to have a tangerine the size of a juice orange.
Ugli fruit CAN be good, IF you know how to pick one. I don't eat those anymore (since they are part Grapefruit, I'm worried what they might do if they interact with my statins.) The trick is you have to find one where the PEEL is orange (not as orange as an orange is but still orange). That tends to indicate one that is riper, and more towards it's tangerine than it's grapefruit side in flavor.
Key limes are great but as a cooking and drink ingredient, not as something you eat out of hand. You use them like you would use a lemon. Same thing with Yuzu, it's for cooking and drinks, not eating. And with Yuzu since most people are focusing on the rind/zest, finding any with any significant amount of juice in them is EXTREMELY hard. Yuzu's cousins Sudachi and Kabosu are also useful in their own ways, but those are so hard to find fresh your odds of locating any outside of a large Japanese grocery store are almost nil.
Calamansi/Calamondin makes a decent drink/cooking item. You usually can't buy those in stores, but trees are easy to get from nurseries, and they grow well as a houseplant. There, the trick is trying to find the RIGHT ONE for juice production (the commonest one isn't the best for that). I'd love to tell you what type that is, but even I haven't quite worked that one out yet.
I LOVE greengage plums (which might as well be an exotic fruit here in the U.S.) but, again, finding those is pretty close to impossible. Ditto mirabelle plums.
Beyond that, it's either a case by case basis, or really not worth it in my opinion. To me, longans (the third member of the Lichi/Rambutan trio) taste sort of moldy and mushroom-like (not in a good way*). Cherimoya/Atemoya/Sugar Apple/Bullock Heart are all sort of hit and miss. Soursop (Guanabana) is even more so, finding one that DOESN'T need the sugar coating is so rare that I still have the seeds from the last one I found, and that was WAY over a decade ago.
Don't like most kinds of passionfruit (okay with the oval kind, but almost never see that one). Don't like mango, papaya, or guava (regular OR strawberry (a.k.a. feijoa). Don't like ANY of the sapotes white or black, Don't like persimmons. Don't like sapodilla because the damn things have to be nearly rotten before you can even chew on them, and are sickeningly sweet then. Don't think Carambola (starfruit) is worth it, nor is lian wu/jambu/rose apple. Wong pei/Wampee tastes like an over sour, over resinous lemon crossed with a cough drop. Mamey apple tastes like an overly marshmallow covered sweet potato. Nance taste like you added sugar to Parmesan cheese. Tamarillo's (tree tomatoes) don't taste great to me. Pepino's taste like melon, and I don't like melon. Lulo/Naranjilla tastes super sour. Never worked out HOW to eat a cacao pod (the white stuff isn't worth the effort to scrape it off the seeds, and turning the seeds into chocolate is too complicated.)
Very interesting @Pulsegleaner. You've tried so many exotic fruits! Your post actually reminded me of things I've tried and forgot about, like starfruit. Those used to be very ubiquitous, now I never see them. I did like them somewhat, but each fruit was a hit or miss and there seemed a wide variation in taste between each, many leaning toward a bit too sour. And calamondin, yes, I bought a little clamshell of those once and indeed very tasty and fragrant even though I peeled them by accident, not knowing how to eat them. That is one I'd buy again, should I find it somewhere.
Mirabelle plums are available here at one time of year only, I should make an effort to do more with them specifically. I never think to when they're in season. Aside from the cobblers I should look around for more plum baking recipes. Such an underappreciated cooked fruit.
I've heard the OTHER kind of Pepino is a bit better (longer, thinner, purpler) but I've only seen that once.Well, I'm quite glad you mention about pepino and tamarallo - both I've been tempted to buy seeds for. In fact I grew some pepino plants once years ago and they were killed by an early summer cold night and I never tried again. I too dislike melons, (with well grown watermelons a general exception); now that I know they are melon-y I won't waste money on seeds.
With the persimmons definitely. Until they have bletted (basically gone overripe, usually after a frost on the tree, they have something in them that is basically alum. Most of the Japanese and Chinese ones have had that bred out of them, as has the Israeli Fruit of Sharon, but the native American species still has it. From now on, the only persimmon species I will even CONSIDER planting are the ones you can get ebony out of.Persimmons, the few times I tried those they gave my tongue a truly awful sensation. I don't know what that was. Maybe they were unripe. They look so velvety and smooth and yet on the palate they have been anything but? They are not a commonly eaten fruit here.
I don't like key lime pie, I like key limes, as a lemon analog and something to add to my iced tea.I think you & I are in somewhat of a similar position in regards to exotic fruits then, citrus being one of the better tasting families. Years ago I made a Key Lime pie from a cookbook, it was a ghastly recipe using condensed milk, I don't know what I was thinking really. I wondered as I made it if the ingredients combined would magically transform together into a new creation. Nope. Ghastly level of sweetness, horrible texture. I thought after that key limes were a bust, but maybe if I used them in a better recipe that wonderful taste might be realized.