Fruits of Paradise III by venitha

Just when I think I've tried them all, when I've gone days without spotting something new and different...

• Soursop. Large, gourd shaped, and strangely squishy, to the point that you need to cut it with a bread knife. The white pulpy interior breaks off easily into fibrous pieces. It's sour and slightly reminiscent of a pineapple, though nowhere near as sweet.


• Custard apple. A soft lumpy baseball from the outside; were you to lob it up to the ceiling, it would undoubtedly make a very cool splat and then stick there. It breaks open easily when ripe to reveal soft white teardrops surrounding black seeds. Sweet and indeed custard-y, though Jim and I agree that the appeal of custard-textured fruit has been a bit tempered by the dreaded durian.


• Tamarind. Walks away with the prize for Most Hilarious Appearance. The brittle pod cracks off easily to reveal the fruit, equally turd-like. Tastes just like a fig and has numerous pea-sized pebble-like pits . It's probably best not to extend the turd metaphor here. I will undoubtedly buy tamarinds every time I stumble across them; the laughter their appearance generates is easily worth their price.

Our favorites so far, the ones that I buy again and again and am always looking for deals on, are guavas, mangoes, and persimmons. We are also thoroughly enjoying the delicious pineapples; I just can't get over the price: only US$1 each!

venitha