exotic fruits

Nothing but seeds and tasteless pulp

KIWANO
Curiosity was the main reason why my husband and I fell for this interesting looking exotic fruit called Kiwano, imported from New Zealand. The expensive tag price of more than $3.00 was hard for me to take. But like my very adventurous husband said & I agree, you’ll never know unless you try it. And so we bought it. I got even more curious that I just had to research about it online as soon as we got home. Well the reviews and info about it was not positive. It was described as almost not edible and commonly used for decorative purposes only like mixed in with exotic floral arrangements since the fruit itself has an attractive bright color and has a long shelf life. The bright yellow green interior lends an inviting contrast to the yellow orange exterior of the fruit. It looks really pretty, just pretty actually. I would say it was like a soggy cucumber. The runny and almost bitter pulp is tasteless. It’s mostly just seeds anyway. No wonder the article I found online was asking why they even sell it in the fruit section of some grocery stores. I do agree though, they will go well and look great when combined with some tropical exotic flowers in an arrangement.

RED CARRIBEAN PAPAYA
Now this one’s just glorious looking. Imported from Belize, it’s called Red Carribean papaya in the market. Too bad not all groceries carry it though. The red orange colored fruit is so rich, smooth and quite sweet. In the Philippines we have a yellow papaya variety which I actually prefer but they’re quite hard to find. Oftentimes they get mixed with the red orange variety like this and it gets difficult to tell them apart. It could be frustrating sometimes. The yellow variety can also be found in fruit stalls in Tagaytay City in the Philippines, a popular destination for tourists and locals alike, about two hours by car from Manila. Many of these stalls selling local fruits and vegetables can be found along the main highway leading to Tagaytay. I remember we always stop by to hunt for a good size papaya to bring back home. But it’s almost impossible to tell if you got a good one or not. I find these red carribean papayas consistent in quality so far. The ripe and ready to eat fruit must yield to slight pressure like avocado. Unripe papayas are tasteless, but ripened to perfection, they are one of the best exotic fruits around worth trying.