Fruit | Sybaritica

This rather interesting looking item with the attractive, rather reptilian skin, appeared in our local Co-op recently. It was identified as a ‘Cherimoya’ but, while the name was somewhat familiar to me, I doubt if I could have identified as a fruit. After doing a bit of a search on-line, I discovered that it is native to South America (although cultivated as far north as California) and is also grown in southern Asia. Wikipedia tells me it is also known as a ‘custard apple’ in some quarters, but I have to confess to never having heard that name before. On tasting the fruit, however, it is rather apparent how that particular nickname came about… Read more

This is an interesting little item I picked up at our local grocery not long ago. The name sounded vaguely Spanish to me and put me in mind of the more familiar ‘pomegranate’, from which we derive the word ‘grenade’. As it happens, the name is indeed Spanish in origin, and a little bit of research revealed that the fruit is native to South America (although it is now cultivated in Africa, Australia and New Guinea). Apparently, there is another variety of the fruit which is purple in color and they are both sometimes known as ‘Passion fruit’, especially Australia, the UK and America. That name was somewhat familiar to me, as is the ‘Passion flower’, which apparently is part of the same vine-like plant that produces the fruit. In any event, is was very curious to see what this curious foodstuff might be like… Read more

This curious item, which looks a little like a russet potato with lots of eyes, appeared on the shelves of our local grocery store labeled as ‘Cactus Pears’. The name was unfamiliar to me but, when I Googled it, I discovered that the same article is often called ‘Prickly Pears’, which I have heard of before. I should note here that, according to Wikipedia, the name ‘Prickly Pear’ is shared by quite a few different things but is most commonly used to refer to this particular fruit.

The cactus pear, also known as ‘cactus fig’ in addition to ‘prickly pear’, does indeed come from a type of cactus colloquially known as the ‘Paddle Cactus’. I was surprised when I saw a picture of the plant as it looks exactly like a variety we had growing in our garden in Libya when I was a small child. However, I can’t for the life of me remember any ‘pears’ on them at all. The cactus is most associated with Mexico but it also grows in South America and, I was astounded to learn, can be found as far North as New England and southern Ontario. In any event, the fruit looked really interesting and, naturally, I had to give it a try… Read more

Rambutans are something that thus far I have only seen in cans and, as it happens, I have never tried them in that form either. Normally, when I purchase something new I like to first sample it and then try it out in some culinary experiment or other. However, if you look at the price on the package, you will see that the cost of each individual (very tiny) little fruit works out to just over a dollar apiece. Accordingly, other than using the canned variety, or purchasing some on a trip down south, I am going to have to content myself with just doing a brief taste test of this package for the time being…

These globular green fruit are Chayote, which I just picked up at our local ‘Arctic Ventures’ store for the rather princely sum of two dollars apiece. I have actually had these before but it was so long ago I don’t recall exactly when, or where it might have been, nor whether I liked them… Read more

The curious looking vegetables you see above are, for fairly obvious reasons, popularly known, in English, as drumsticks. Over the years I have come across many recipes for them but, to date, I have not paid much attention to these, as the vegetable has always been unavailable to me. That all changed just a few days ago, however, when I came across several bags of them at a local store, thus giving me an interesting new foodstuff to investigate… Read more

Well…. A very short post today. When I introduced the South America Fruit Physalis (also known as Cape Gooseberry), I rather hoped to use some to make a salsa, possibly to have with smoked salmon. Unfortunately, there were only about 15 or 16 in the little basket I bought and that really wasn’t enough to make it worthwhile. I did, however, come across a suggestion that they be dipped in chocolate and thus I came up with the presentation you see above.

I used some of that Hershey’s Chocolate Shell Topping you put on ice cream and I put the fruit into the freezer for about 5 or 10 minutes so that the chocolate would harden on contact. Afterwards, I added a little dab of raspberry jam, sprinkled on some sugar, and then garnished each with a little sliver of mint leaf. I was planning to make some mint tea but I put the mint in ‘fridge and forgot about it so most of the leaves had turned brown (I really must stop doing that!). Luckily, though, I managed to salvage a few to slide underneath the treats as a further bit of decoration.

Anyway, I quite enjoyed them and my wife really liked them a lot. The chocolate did indeed go nicely with the fruit, so it turned out to be a very good suggestion. I hope you like the look of them and try them yourself…

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When I first saw these in our local grocery store I thought I was looking at Tomatillos because of the unusual paper skin. It wasn’t until I got closer and saw that they were smaller and of different shape that I realized I was looking at something I had never seen before. These intriguing little objects were packaged in little baskets of a dozen or so and there was no identifying label on the shelf. The baskets, however, were sitting in a larger cardboard container that had the word ‘Physalis’ written on the side. This meant absolutely nothing to me and it wasn’t until I got home and did an Internet search that I discovered that this is, in fact, the proper name for what turns out to be a fruit of South American origin. Naturally, I picked up a basket to see what they might be like… Read more

I saw this at the store yesterday and remembered buying one the last time they appeared which was nearly two years ago. For the life of me, I could recall nothing of the taste, or even whether I liked it or not. I decided to give it another try and share the experience with you… Read more

Although I live in a fairly remote location in Canada’s North, we have a store in town called ‘Arctic Ventures’ that carries a pretty decent selection of imported foodstuffs – Shiitake mushrooms, pappadums, curry pastes, etc. Quite often, they also have fresh vegetables from overseas and the far south and, during this past year alone, we have seen bitter melon (both the Indian and Chinese varieties), lemon grass, Thai chillies and Okra. A few days ago, I was visiting the store to pick up a few items and I happened to spy these bags of a curious item I had never set eyes on before. The label identified these rather cute little green things as ‘Tindora’ and I realized that I have never even seen a recipe for them in my, fairly extensive, cookery book collection. Although I am all alone at home for the week, and thus hadn’t planned to do much in the way of experimental cooking, I couldn’t resist grabbing a bag. Read more