Lists are fun! (Volume 1 - Fruits)
My friend Cordelia introduced me to a number of her favorite fruits when I visited Hong Kong back in 1999 after we got out of college. I was staying with her incredibly gracious family as part of my post-college “mini-trip” to Asia. It was the middle of Typhoon season and she was suffering from a cold, so were both in no position to be wandering the streets of Hong Kong in the middle of a downpour.Instead, we sat around and ate an entire bowl of fruit! Cordelia is great because she knows so much about food! She is my #1 Food Friend (of many), because she not only LOVES to eat, but she actually worked in Food Equity Research on Wall Street! At that point we had Longan and Mangosteen and soft juicy Philippine mangos! YUM! I want some now!
Here are my picks for the Top 5, in ranked order of addictiveness on the “must try” list for fruit:
1) Mangosteen – This was a tough call because I love #2 as well. As I mentioned before, I was first introduced to the delicious mangosteen (The “Queen of Fruits”) whilst visiting Cordelia years ago. It is so yummy, but a bit difficult to find in the USA, although I have seen a drink made from mangosteen juice. It’s a good thing it isn’t readily available, as I would be completely addicted.
2) Sapodilla – I first tried this when some was left in my room as compliments of the Oriental Hotel in Bangkok, but unfortunately it is REALLY tough to find outside in the U.S. Its soft honey-flavored flesh can only be described as “succulent”, a word that I feel dirty saying out loud. Very very dirty…
3) Lychee – Yes, its not the most “exotic” of fruits, and any self-respecting martini bar in NYC has some version of a lychee martini on the menu. But for some reason I am completely addicted to it, and I find myself unable to see anything with it on a menu and not order it. My friend Wendy would describe me as a “Lychee whore”, which is true in many ways…soooo many ways…..
4) Rambutan – Its fun because it tastes great but also looks really silly! Like a kooshball but edible!
5) Figs – If I’m a lychee whore, then I’m a Fig slut and my friend Wendy can be the fig whore. I love them fresh, I love them dried, or dried with syrup and served with a nice glass of wine, or stewed in a savory tagine! (I had the dried fig tagine at Country Café in NY Soho and it was awesome!) Don’t let me leave out fig newtons!
Runners Up (these were excluded because they each have some tragic flaw):
1) Passionfruit – I LOVE the juice as an alternative to orange juice. Tragic Flaw: Too many of those crunchy little seeds! The seeds are edible, but they get stuck in your teeth! Also guilty: raspberries, blackberries, strawberries, all the seedy fruits!
2) Pomegranite – Very tasty juice that makes for a yummy jelly and is high in antioxidants (which I guess is good??). Tragic Flaw: Its just a series of seeds that stain EVERYTHING! When I was growing up we used to make pomegranate jelly from the tree in our backyard and my hands would be stained for days. DAYS!!!
3) Durian – Its “the king of fruits” and everyone has to try it at least once, partly because its so bizarre. Tragic Flaw: After eating it your burps smell narsty for the next 24 hours.
4) Dragonfruit – It looks so cool! Tragic flaw: It tastes so bland! BORING!!!
5) Longan – Very tasty! Tragic Flaw: Its just not as sexy as Lychee and Longan, which is kind of resembles. Its like Maryanne to Ginger…some people are big fans, but Ginger will always be the moviestar and Maryanne will always just be a Longan (??)
Fruits I Totally Not Into:
1) Most types of Melon – Unless it comes in a fancy box and is given to you as a gift by a rich Japanese businesspersona, Melon is cheap filler fruit!
2) Grapefruit – Its so bitter! Even worse: pink grapefruit. It sucks.
3) Kiwi – Kiwi is soooo overrated. I mean come on!
4) Jack Fruit – Too chewy
5) Those big grapes that they sell at the supermarket that look really yummy and plump and juice and sweet but when you bit into them you realize that they are totally bland and have big seeds!
Specialty Fruits:
1) Fresh fruit to have in a margarita:
Best – Strawberry (classic, and well done at Done Jose’s in Huntington Beach)
Worst – Banana (too slimy)
2) Fruit Sorbet:
Best – Tamarind (perfect combo of sweet and tangy)
Worst – Pineapple (I hate the little chunks!)
3) Flavored Vodka
Best – Cranberry (so very very smooth)
Worst – Apple (tastes like Goldschlagger back in college….)
4) Martini
Best – Lychee (especially if they use rosewater or vanilla too!)
Worst – Sour Apple (it tastes so good, but creates so much suffering…ask Vinay Sharma)
5) Jolly Rancher Flavor
Best – Either watermelon or sour apple
Worst – Lemon (its just so boring)
6) Jello Flavor
Best – Lime (it’s a classic, and complements those weird chunks of floating fruit!)
Worst – Grape (that’s just weird)
7) Jelly
Best – Pomegranite (its surprisingly delicious!)
Worst – Quince paste (what the hell is quince anyway?!?!)
8) Smell
Best – Warm Apple (mmmmmm)
Worst – Durian (self explanatory)
9) Looking
Best – Dragonfruit is very cool looking, but there is something very aesthetically pleasing about a nice round white peach
Worst – Banana (as Jennifer D’Amico would say, its all about the curvature)
10) Personality
Best – Guava (I find guava to be a very pleasant fruit)
Worst – Pear (I like pear with wine, but I find pears to be a bit pretentious…too much attitude)
