| Ah, the everyday fruits at the | | | | Asia. The season is September to March. |
| English-speaking table: apple, orange, | | | | |
| banana. Tangerine, peach, strawberry. Maybe a | | | | Durian - This is the canonical weird fruit. |
| bunch of grapes or the occasional kiwi. As | | | | If you can say you've eaten a durian, you've |
| anyone can see, the fruit table at the | | | | at least stepped outside of your comfort zone |
| typical banquet is stuck in a rut. We haven't | | | | and possibly can lay some claim to courage. |
| seen nearly enough exotic offerings to | | | | The appearance of it is like an avocado with |
| invigorate our taste buds with a new | | | | a suit of spiky armor. Slice it open and |
| experience... and sometimes challenge our | | | | discover a kind of pod-like structure with a |
| notion of fruit entirely! Here, we present a | | | | thick core and skin. |
| guide to some up-and-coming fruits whose time | | | | |
| for recognition is long overdue: | | | | The smell of the durian is a legendary |
| | | | turn-off. It has been compared to many |
| Atemoya - Atemoyas are popular in Taiwan, | | | | disagreeable things from a rotting corpse to |
| though they are native to the South Pacific | | | | a skunk. Stories abound about how the fruit |
| in general. Atemoyas are round in shape, with | | | | stinks so bad that it is actually banned in |
| green, bumpy skin. They are juicy and smooth, | | | | hotels, subways, and planes. The odor can be |
| tasting slightly sweet and a little tart. | | | | picked up from miles away, and if you store a |
| Some say they taste like an alcohol-free pina | | | | cut durian in your fridge, it will taint the |
| colada! Watch out for the black seeds, | | | | odor of everything else, including the |
| however, which are said to be toxic. Their | | | | garlic. Once you get past the smell, the |
| season is late summer through early winter. | | | | taste is commonly described as nutty and |
| | | | sweet, but other descriptions range from |
| Bilberry - No wonder you haven't seen these; | | | | custard to onions. Possibly the most complex |
| they are rarely cultivated! Bilberries are | | | | flavor known in nature. You either love it or |
| native to Scotland, Ireland, and Poland. They | | | | hate it, but it's been consumed in its native |
| have an appearance and taste close to a | | | | Asia since ancient times. Seasonal in April |
| blueberry, but redder rather than bluer. You | | | | and May. |
| can eat them fresh, or as they are more | | | | |
| commonly used, in jams, juices and pies. In | | | | Elderberry - Found in the warmer parts of |
| France, they are used as a base for liqueurs, | | | | Europe and North America, these berries are |
| sorbets, and other desserts, and in Brittain | | | | black with a luminous blue tint. They are |
| they are often used to flavor crepes. | | | | also poisonous raw! They have cyanide |
| | | | content, which can only be destroyed by |
| Black Sapote - This is a species of persimmon | | | | cooking. Nevertheless, they are used to make |
| found native in Central and South America | | | | both tea and wine. They have a smell |
| from Mexico to Columbia. Black Sapote is | | | | described as "fetid", and hence (it's there, |
| tomato-like and the size of a tangerine, with | | | | look it up!) the insult from the movie "Monty |
| a rind which is greenish-yellow. The brown, | | | | Python and the Holy Grail", where a soldier |
| pulpy meat of this fruit is said to taste | | | | taunts "Your mother was a hamster and your |
| like - are you ready for this? - chocolate | | | | father smelt of elderberries!" Walt Whitman, |
| pudding! You'll find them in Mexican markets | | | | the poet, is said to have been fond of |
| from August to January. In the Philippines, | | | | elderberry wine. |
| it is served as a dessert with milk over it. | | | | |
| | | | Feijoa - This is a warm-temperature to |
| Cherimoya - Strange that the cherimoya has | | | | subtropical fruit that ripens in Autumn. It |
| taken so long to be accepted into mainstream | | | | looks about like an elongated lime. It's |
| culture. Mark Twain is known for having | | | | flavor is sweet, juicy, and aromatic; the |
| complimented cherimoyas he enjoyed while | | | | rind, while edible, is tart. Slice one in |
| traveling abroad. Cherimoyas are green and | | | | half and find a distinctive four-point |
| bumpy, about the size of a grapefruit, with a | | | | plus-sign shape inside. Typically, it is |
| shape that looks like it had an artichoke or | | | | eaten with a spoon. Popular in New Zealand, |
| perhaps a pine cone in its family tree. Taken | | | | where it is used in smoothies, yogurt, and |
| that you avoid the seeds, which are poisonous | | | | drinks. It can even be made into wine. |
| but easy to remove, the fruit tastes tangy | | | | |
| and sweet, somewhere between a strawberry and | | | | Granadilla - Sometimes distinguished as the |
| a mango. | | | | "sweet granadilla", because there is also a |
| | | | "giant" variety. It is native to the Andes |
| Clementine - Surprising that we don't hear | | | | mountains around Bolivia and Venezuela, but |
| more of this one; the best way to describe a | | | | can be coaxed to grow as far north as Mexico |
| clementine is that it's exactly like a | | | | and as far south as Argentina. The fruit |
| tangerine, but without the sour taste! This | | | | ripens in May and June. When ripe, it is |
| is a straight citrus fruit all the way, | | | | about the size and color of an orange, with a |
| looking, peeling, and sectioning just like a | | | | yellow cast and a hard, smooth shell. The |
| tangerine or a mandarin orange. The origins | | | | meat consists of a mass of pesto-green seeds |
| of it are lost in time - some say China and | | | | and clear pulp. It tastes sort of like |
| some point to Algeria. They are in season | | | | citrus, but sweet, and is popular in |
| from November to January, and so they go by | | | | sherbets. |
| the nickname of "Christmas Oranges". | | | | |
| | | | Gooseberry - Native to Europe, this is not to |
| Dragon Fruit - It doesn't get any more exotic | | | | be confused with two other species mistakenly |
| than this. Dragon fruit is the fruit of the | | | | called the gooseberry. The berries come in |
| pitaya tree. It ranges in color from red to | | | | green and red varieties, in an oval shape |
| yellow to green, kind of like bell peppers. | | | | looking very much like grapes but with a |
| It is shaped kind of like a pear that is | | | | veined skin texture. They are described as |
| trying to grow vines. The inside is a wonder | | | | having a sour, bitter flavor when raw, but |
| - tasting vaguely like a kiwi and the meat is | | | | are extremely popular in everything from pies |
| either Oreo-cream-white or fig-brown, | | | | to jellies to wines. The gooseberry is very |
| peppered with hundreds of tiny, crunchy | | | | "old world", it is rare because it is so |
| seeds. The name supposedly comes from the | | | | difficult to cultivate, having several pests |
| suggestion that it looks like a dragon's egg, | | | | that destroy the crop entirely if given half |
| although how anybody found a dragon's egg to | | | | the chance. |
| compare with is anybody's guess. Native to | | | | |