Exotic Fruits

kickstart_3

Sometimes when i go shopping i see them 'reduced' but ..i dont know what half of them taste like or how to prepare them .What is nice ?,what do i do with it ? how do i tell if its past its best ?

Twig

What have you seen, can you remember what any of them are called?

We love avocados, they are lovely with a dash of salt and lemon juice. Or mixed with equal parts of tomato and onion, dash of lemon juice and a touch of salt (guacamole). Avocados in UK tend to be sold before they are ripe, they should give a bit when squeezed, wrap them in newspaper for a couple of days if they are hard and they will ripen up OK. If you have a load that are already ripe keep them in the fridge. Once you have made something with them if you want to keep it put the stone back in the tub with it, this stops it going brown.

Papaya, I find them a bit incipid (sp) really, but are nice if you add them to a fruit salad. They should 'give' a little when squeezed.

hth, let me know what the fruits are and I'll try to help.

Twig

saxy1

Twig wrote: »

Papaya, I find them a bit incipid (sp) really, but are nice if you add them to a fruit salad. They should 'give' a little when squeezed.



Twig

Have just bought a Papaya, as I have never tried a fresh one before - not sure I want to now!!


Mangoes are lovely, though can be very messy to eat!!

carbonel

I use loads of exotic fruits so here goes.......................
Mango - lovely sweet, juicy but awkward to get off the stone!
Ugli fruit - just like a BIG orange.
Sharon fruit - eat it like an apple though a bit squishy. Nice and sweet/juicy though.
Dragon fruit - don't bother, speckly white flesh that tastes of nothing.
Pomegranate - you only eat the seeds, they are crunchy, nice taste but fiddly to get out of the skin.
Passion fruit - sweet, perfumed seeds. Not much in each one though.
Star fruit - tastes of nothing. Bit pointless really. Ooops...pun there!
There are many more.......................

I make a big bowl of fresh fruit salad 3 or 4 times a week and often just use regular stuff, apple, orange, pear, melon, mango, grapes but then I put exotic juice in. Works well for me. If you get exotics reduced you need to use them pretty quick. Bear in mind they have already travelled a long way!

thriftlady_2

I've tried most of them but the best are mango and pineapple (lots of good offers around at the moment). Passionfruit are also lovely squeezed over something else like sliced mango or on a pavlova.

Marsie

I find this OK after some tips - did a Google and Queen Delia obviously follows the method I use and she has pics, so I won't try and explain:

http://www.deliaonline.com/cookery-school/how-to/how-to-prepare-and-serve-a-mango,57,AR.html

M.

Uniscots97

Don't forget guanabana, sometimes known here as a custard apple. It looked like a big green fir cone (about the size of a large orange). If these are spring to touch then its ready to eat, cut open and eat the white flesh, just watch out for the sour black pips hidden throughout the fruit.

NicolaJH_2

I always like having a look at the tropical fruit when I can (smaller supermarkets close to me don't have much of a range) and recently have tried pomegranates, sharon fruit, dragon fruit and chikoos for the first time.

Pomegranate: delicious but a pain to eat. I was covered in the juice after eating the first one. For a treat, take all the seeds out and pat them dry. Melt some dark chocolate and then stir in the pomegranate seeds and then put little heaps on baking parchment on a tray and put in the fridge to harden.

Sharon fruit: I think I didn't leave to ripen enough but it was okay. Just eat like an apple/peach.

Dragon fruit: Extremely pretty to look at. Would only buy if you could get it significantly reduced as they are pretty expensive. They don't really taste of much and seeds add an interesting texture. Chop the top off and spoon out the flesh.

Chikoo: Also known as sapodillas. I didn't really like these. They had a bit of a burnt sugar taste (some would describe it as caramel). Could appeal to some though. Just cut in half and remove the seeds and scoop out the flesh.

Gingham_Ribbon

I don't like papaya. I find it bland, tough and a bit bitter near the seeds.

kickstart_3

Looks like you have covered quite a few of the ones i wasnt sure about ..Ugli fruit , custard apple,sharon fruit.Have always eaten Pomegranates from being small , think it was my mums way of keeping me quiet! Maybe i will be brave enough to try some of these now.

THIRZAH

Dh likes papaya-used to eat it as a lad in Singapore.If you get a ripe one it's nice with a drop of lime juice.

We've tried chikoos, dragon fruit and star fruit but weren't impressed.

Lychees, mangosteen and rambutan all have a similar sort of flavour. Tesco sometimes has lychees but I've only seen the other two in greengrocers.

We love fruit and will try anything once.