What are your favorite fruits?

[megrainbows]

I could never choose just one.. :D
So I'll say, watermelon, mango, pineapple (allthough it makes my mouth bleed), strawberries and raspberries :D

[Andy_T]

I guess I also love all fruits, especially tropical ones!

Persimmons (currently widely available in Europe), Mangoes, Durian, but my absolute favourite is called the sugar apple (Annona squamosa) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sugar-apple

It looks like this and is an incredible fruit with a taste that is really hard to describe:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/48/Sugar_apple_with_cross_section.jpg/800px-Sugar_apple_with_cross_section.jpg

... and I am extremely lucky, as I ate one just yesterday!!!! Not easy, but my family just returned from a holiday in Taiwan and my 6-year old brought two on the plane, and we shared one yesterday. I am a lucky father.

... as far as European fruit is concerned, guess I'm partial to pears. Could eat them all day (actually, I do that at the office).

Best regards,
Andy

[emmapresley]

*runs in, shouts SHARON FRUIT! runs out again*

[Andy_T]

Just to avoid confusion, persimmon and sharon fruit (two names mentioned in this thread) are the same thing.
See more at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persimmon

Best regards,
Andy

[emmapresley]

smart thinking andy_t.

where you thinking anyone would be confused?

[leedsveg]

The worst fruit to eat if not prepared properly, has to be the sabra/prickly pear, from the cactus plant. It's not a bad tasting fruit but unless you totally remove all the hair like spines, they stick into you mouth, lips, hands and are very difficult to extract. Anybody else had a bad experience?

Leedsveg

[harpy]

Ouch, no - I've never dared to buy those though I think I once had a granita (sort of sorbet) made from them. Are they hard to peel then?

[leedsveg]

Ouch, no - I've never dared to buy those though I think I once had a granita (sort of sorbet) made from them. Are they hard to peel then?

I think the problem was caused by trying to peel and eat in situ, while crossing into the Golan Heights. We beat them with a stick but the spines were not fully removed. If we'd bought them at a market, I'm sure they would have been fully de-spined.

Leedsveg

[harpy]

I think the problem was caused by trying to peel and eat in situ, while crossing into the Golan Heights. We beat them with a stick but the spines were not fully removed. If we'd bought them at a market, I'm sure they would have been fully de-spined.

Oh, it was a pick-yer-own then? :) Very resourceful of you to eat them at all.

Andy, I've had something that looked like that sugar-apple but was a custard-apple (I think - am a bit confused after reading the various Wikipedia articles) which seems to be a relative of that one. Have you had both?

[leedsveg]

Oh, it was a pick-yer-own then? :) Very resourceful of you to eat them at all.

Nobody else around. Looking back, maybe my Finnish friend, Pertti and I, should have given more thought to the possibility of stepping on a mine.

Lv

[harpy]

:eek: That would have taken your minds off the cactus spines, at least.

[fiamma]

Yellow kiwi *swoon*

Talking of custard/sugar apples, there's a tree near my house that sheds "fruit" every year; they're round and range from the size of a tennis ball to a small grapefruit.
They're the colour of tennis balls too - bright green/yellow, and hard, with a scaly appearance.
Any ideas, anyone?

ETA: Just found it... an Osage-orange (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maclura_pomifera)! :eek: Who'd have thought it??

[Tigerlily]

Yum! Yellow kiwi! I haven't had one in ages. I used to eat 2 kiwis every day a few years back and a big plate of kale for lunch. My skin was clearer than a baby's. :eek: Should get back to that!

Currently, I am loving....
Bananas, frozen blueberries (mixed into soy yogurt or cereal), mejdool dates, oranges, and dried cranberries.

[Andy_T]

Andy, I've had something that looked like that sugar-apple but was a custard-apple (I think - am a bit confused after reading the various Wikipedia articles) which seems to be a relative of that one. Have you had both?

Indeed, the custard apple (Annona reticulata) also seems to be a relative of this fruit I love very much (Annona squamosa ).
In the meantime, I also found in a local supermarket Cherimoya fruits (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annona_cherimola) that are also quite similar (same family).

I tried one (that was fresh and green) and was not overwhelmed. However, when I remembered what I know about the sugar apple (you have to wait until it is ripe) and tried a second one, this time looking black, ugly and nearly rotten, that one turned out to be exactly as it should be - delicious, sweet and fragrant, and very close to the sugar apple.

So I am now a very happy camper that I can get this fruit in supermarkets in Germany (not always, but sometimes).

Anybody who has not tried yet, please give it a try...

Best regards,
Andy

[Greyowl55]

Not having a sweet tooth, I would say cherries, the sharper apples and cranberries (in juice form and naturally sweetened with grape juice). Tried blueberries once on account of their supposed wonder status - found them tasteless.

[khadagan]

I'm very much into eating oranges at the moment, I'm eating 4-5 a day. I'm pregnant and can only think of oranges, even dream about it. It's weird because normally I don't eat them plain, every now and then I mix them through smoothies, but now I'm actually dreaming about eating them as well! I don't think I have a vitamin C deficiency, but they have never tasted better either!

[twinkle]

I've recently discovered that I love mangoes! I'm not sure what it was that put me off them before, I thought they were too difficult to eat or something, but they're my new favourite. So tasty and smooth, sweet with just the edge of tartness! :D

[harpy]

I like mangoes too - I do find it slightly difficult to get them at the right moment, when they're juicy but not actually rotten. The ones they have in Asian grocers seem a bit easier from that point of view, I don't know whether they're transported better than the supermarket ones or whether it's just that the shopkeepers are better at picking them best ones.

[twinkle]

I'm lucky to live close to Leicester Market, which has several stalls selling mangoes at the moment, three for a quid usually. I can't afford the supermarket ones unless they're reduced! :)

[sandra]

I've recently re-discovered cherries! They are fascinating, tasty little things! :)

[harpy]

You are lucky, twinkle - I'm sure the market ones are better though I do like the fact that the supermarkets sometimes have fairtrade ones. We have had the odd one turn up in our organic veg box too.

[ellaminnowpea]

I go through phases. Right now I'm eating a ton of bananas. I love cherries, nectarines, some apples, and oranges. :) Quality definitely decreases in the winter. I need to move back to California...