Scientific name: Annona cherimola a.k.a. Custard Apple, Chirimoya

This is one of my favorite tropical fruits and I’ve probably written too much about them. But these were such usual shapes that I had to mention it here. Cherimoyas usually come round, but looking at these you can say they come in all shapes and sizes.

It goes by many names in tropical countries around the world.  The following notes is from Purdue University Horticulture:

“In Venezuela, it is called chirimorrinon; in Brazil, graveola, graviola, or grabiola; and in Mexico, pox or poox; in Belize, tukib; in El Salvador it is sometimes known as anona poshte; and elsewhere merely as anona, or anona blanca. In France, it is anone; in Haiti, cachiman la Chine. Indian names in Guatemala include pac, pap, tsummy and tzumux. The name, cherimoya, is sometimes misapplied to the less-esteemed custard apple, A. reticulata L. In Australia it is often applied to the atemoya (a cherimoya-sugar apple hybrid).”

And in it’s Lao is refer to as “mak keiup”. Read the rest of this entry »

This cute little fruit is called cherimoya and they come in many shape and size.  Cherimoyas are one of the best tasting tropical fruits out there.  Many are now grown in fruit farms near Santa Barbara, California.

This fruit still needs a couple more days to ripen before eating.  Don’t let the funny skin on the outside fool you either. The taste is like a good combination of sweet pear, mixed with pineapple, banana, and even a bit of mangosteen.

In Lao it’s “mak keiup farang” or at least that is what I’ve been told.  The true mak keiup is called custard apple in English.  And in Thai it’s called “noi-na”.

Cherimoyas are now sold in many Asian markets in northern California.  Price starts at $2.99 per pound.  I got a few of them but decided to photograph this one since it was so round and cute.

My mom said these are not the ones that grow in Asia.  But rather “mak keep farang” meaning the French custard apple.

Here is a photo of the inside of the fruit.  I cut this one up since it had ripen and was much softer.  The inside is creamy and sweet, like nature’s ice cream.

I finally got to taste my first fresh dragonfruit, also known as Pitaya. I found them for sale at the local Asian market priced at $5 per pound. I asked if these fruits were shipped from Asia, such as Thailand or Vietnam. But the cashier said these were from the wholesale fruit market in San Francisco. I wonder if it’s from American farmers out in southern California.

The fruit of this size was priced at $2.  It had such a nice pinkish red skin with white flesh inside. I was hoping it would be sweet, but it was very bland! Kind of like a water fruit, possibly great if you were thirsty. But the seeds were nutty and gave it some texture. The flesh near the skin was a bit tart too.

Dragonfruit flesh also reminded me of eating prickly pear and kiwi fruit.  Especially with the melon like flesh and the tiny black seeds. They are great summertime fruits, when chilled.

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Since I heard that new plant species were found in the jungles of Asia, I have hope that it will lead to discovering many new herbal medicines. The most recent promising herb I’ve read about is Camu-Camu.  These come from the jungles of South America.

These fruits look pretty good to me!  They are suppose to be very sour, so the locals don’t like them too much.  It is found growing near the rivers in South American, mostly near the Amazon River.  Image source from BidNetwork.

Dr. James Duke retired chief botanist for the U.S.Dept.of Agriculture, author the Green Pharmacy did a comparative study of hundreds of botanical. He ranked them in order of effectiveness for various health conditions, Camu-Camu (Myrciaria dubia) was ranked among hundreds of herbs as follows:

* anti-viral -No.6
* anti-oxidant - No.4
* asthma - No.1
* atherosclerosis - No.1
* cataracts - No.1
* colds - No.1
* depression - No.2

Once the fruit is split open, it looks very much like grapes and passionfruit.  Photo from HerbDealer. “The camu-camu, which looks like an eight-gram plum and is known to the local Amazonian population as “cazar” or “araz-de-agua,” is also rich in collagen - a substance used for slowing down the aging process - and in flavonoids, which help prevent cancer, said Conrado Todesco, president of an environmental organization in Sao Paulo.” - Mario Osava - (IPS) RIO DE JANEIRO

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Since I am thinking of Queens, I just thought I should write about the Queen of Fruits - Mangosteens.  They are rare here in the United States.  I have yet to try the fresh version, but have had it from the syrupy can and also frozen (with skin).  I took a photo of them here.  They are usually packed and shipped from Thailand or the Philippines.

Mangosteens are consider to be a superfruit.  As we’ve noticed lately with the popularity of mangosteen juice sold as a health tonic drink.  The skin is used since it is packed with nutrients. I tried making herbal tea with the skin (from the frozen mangosteen), but it was awful. You can taste the tannin (substance found in many plants, including in grape skins, seeds and stalks). It reminded me of the taste of pomegranate skin.

But the real prize is inside. It has soft white flesh with an amazing taste.  They form little segments too.  It’s a little bit sour, but mostly sweet and smells really nice too.  And the seeds are edible, taste kind of nutty and soft.  I can see why anyone who has ever tried mangosteen loves it so much.

At one time (in the U.S.) they were ban from shipping the fresh ones in fear of spreading insects (Asian fruit fly). But I have heard that fresh ones are available at most Asian markets now.  I can’t wait to get my hands on the fresh version!

Orignially from Southeast Asia, the mangosteen is a fabulously deep aubergine colored, sweet fruit that is unlike any other I’ve tasted. The closest I can compare it to in consistency would be the lychee, but mangosteens flavor is richer and more buttery in my opinion. You can usually find them canned in syrup in specialty Chinese markets. The fresh fruit has only recently been allowed by USDA to be imported into the US because of fears that the asian fruit fly would be imported with it. - Cleveland Botanical Garden.

Photo from Nieman Marcus, $75

Maybe mangosteens are getting more popular in the beauty (perfume) market as well. Since fresh cosmetics even has a perfume named after it.  The smell is described as warm, musky blend of bergamont as well as Italian lemon, freesia, mangosteen, sheer peony, rose, and other floral notes. I think that might be a pretty good combination.

Mangosteen Eau de Parfum surrounds the juicy heart of the mangosteen with bright Italian lemon, sheer peony, and velvety peach. This luscious scent is truly mouth-watering yet sophisticated. The Mangosteen Body Care Collection is enriched with powerful antioxidants to revitalize and nourish your skin. - Beauty.com

This photo is taken by Hein Bijlmakers.  Check out all those mangosteens (in Thailand) - I love how they use natural biodegradable banana leaves as fruit trays.

Image source:

Nieman Marcus

Resources:

Cleveland Botanical Garden

More great photos of mangosteens from bloom to fruit.  By Hein Bijlmakers.

I came upon some interesting fruit trees at the International Rare Fruit Orchard in San Jose, Ca.  The place had a good variety of rare fruits, from Jujube to Brazilian guavas.  You are allow to taste the fruits, but not allow to take any home with you.  Unfortunately many of the fruits were not ready for picking yet.

Of those ready for picking were these Suriname Cherry.  Suriname was once part of the Dutch colonies and located on the top northeast tip of South America, near French Guiana and Brazil.  According to The Fruit Hunter, Brazil has the richest varieties of rare fruits on the globe.

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Ever since I was young, I’ve always been fascinated (if not in love) with all fruits.  But tropical fruits really make my heart flutter. My list of favorite tropical fruits can go on and on, but I think the sugar apple tops the list.  They have a very strange looking outside skin but are very sweet and yummy inside.

Sugar-apple fruit is high in calories, but is a good source of iron.  They are also part of the cherimoya or custard apple family.   They are also referred to as custard apple.  Cherimoyas have gained some popularity here in California.  Recently I saw them at our local farmer’s market for $5 per pound and $3 a pound at the Chinese market .  But if want organic one shipped to you, try ordering from Calimoya.  They are a tropical fruit farm based out of the foothills of Santa Barbara, California.  You can purchase from them when it’s in season.  Their cherimoyas retail a 4 lb box for $42.  It’s a bit pricey for me, but it’s shipped fresh and direct from the U.S.!

Recently I bought a bag of frozen cherimoya that was packed in Thailand. It was $3 for two medium size fruit.  Not as fresh, but just as good!  The skin outside looks very strange and lumpy, a bit like a soft pine cone.  It was very “Out of this World” strange!  But the inside smells great and the taste is even better. The texture and fragrant smell of this fruit is unforgetable.  The inside is soft and sweet and to me it’s like eating a good ripe pear, mixed with pineapple, bananas, and even a bit of mangosteens.  But it’s really difficult to describe in words, so you may have to taste it for yourself.

Read the rest of this entry »

The last time I was at the bookstore gift section, I saw these pretty packages of soy candles. They were made by my favorite handmade soap company, Pacifica. I’m not exactly sure which products they made first, the soap or the candles. But the candles were a recent thing I’ve noticed. And these candles all smell great. It’s definitely not at artificial at all (like perfumes usually do!). That is because these candles are scented with pure essential oils. You can never go wrong with pure EO’s.

Since I was already in love with their guava glycerine handmade soap, I went right into the Hawaiin Ruby Guava soy candles. As mentioned by Pacifica’s company site, “This tropical blend is predominately made up of sweet berry-like notes of the guava, with a citrusy top note of pomelo in a very subtle warm base of coconut.” The smallest jar is $5.00 for 3 oz.

Guavas are very rare in the US fruit market. Sometimes when I get lucky I’ll see them at the Asain markets. Some people like to eat them when they are ripe, as they can be very sweet yet tangy. But I prefer them to be a bit crisp.

On my first trip to Hawaii, years ago, I tasted my first fruit off the tree. A friend of ours had a small tree growing in their front yard. Most of the fruits had been eaten by birds or bats already. But I was able to get my first bite into a crunchy little green one. I think the scent was more memorable then the fruit itself. So it’s such a great surprise to find Pacifica making these beautiful soaps and candles.

Many cool facts about guavas can be found at rain-tree.com