I grew up in a family that was Italian. My grandmother owned a restaurant and made all the food from scratch. Food is in my DNA. I love to try out new foods of all sorts especially fruit!
You have your typical staple fruit: oranges,apples,bananas,strawberries, the berries and melons but what about those exotic fruits that may look a tad scary to eat? Here is a list of my 4 favorite exotic fruit!
1.Passion fruit
Origin: grows in tropical areas
Taste: This fruit has a seedy, sweet and sour flavor. The seeds have a light crunch to them which gives it some texture. It’s full of vitamins as well! I just punch a hole in the side and drank it like a smoothie. I suggest opening it to get the fruit out more easily though. It’s great in yogurt!
When to eat: eat when the outside starts to look like a little shriveled and prune looking. This gives it the best flavor!
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2.Dragon fruit or Pitaya
Origin: Grows in Mexico but has expanded to other cultures for cultivation. It grows from a cactus!
Taste: The taste of dragon fruit, I assure you, is way less striking than it’s dramatic appearance. When ripe the white or purple polka-doted flesh has a mild sweet flavor. The seeds are okay to eat and it gives it a lightly crunchy texture. It is good in smoothies and yogurt. There are different varieties to taste as well. My favorite is the yellow fleshed papaya. It’s sweeter and juicer than it’s pink fleshed partner.
When to eat: wait 1-2 days before opening to get a more sweet flavor.
https://pixabay.com/photo-2477515/
3.Horned melon
Origin: Comes from Southern and Central Africa. Has been know to be cultivated in other places.
Taste: This melon isn’t like your typical melon. To my experience, it is very heavily seeded and has a sour taste to it. You can eat the seeds but I didn’t. To be honest, This wasn’t my favorite fruit.
When to eat: when ripe these will have a orange outside appearance.
https://pixabay.com/photo-74267/
4.Guava
Origin: Grows in tropical areas. Has been cultivated in Mexico, Central and South America.
Taste: To me Guava has this lightly sweet pine flavor. And even though this fruit has semi-hard seeds in the center, the center is the sweetest of it all. I enjoy it in a salad, fruit salad or just on its own.
When to eat: Eat when the outside is soft, but not squishy. About 1-2 days.
https://pixabay.com/photo-2284718/
Bethany Munson 