Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2019/09/10/i-want-to-visit-this-exotic-fr.html
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“Robert is here” fruit stand is a great stop (fresh fruit smoothies), and is kind of the gateway between southern Florida and the Keys.
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I want to try jack fruit, but it will have to be prepared first in some way as those things are freaking huge.
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Get canned, brined green jackfruit if you want to do something like pulled ‘pork’ or ‘chicken’ tinga. I get it at the local asian market, although it appears that trader joes sells it too.
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Can’t tell if that’s a soursop (guanabana) or a cherimoya. I rate both very highly.
So I went to Maui, HI a couple of years ago and experienced one of those obsessive fruit awakenings. I hit up all the fruit stands along Hana Highway. I ate apple bananas (sweet, pudgy, complex flavors, caramel-ey in a way that cavendish are not), and bright yellow (sprightly and sour) and dark brown (diesel yet sweet tasting) lilikoi, sweet and juicy mame sapotas, the sweetest papayas I have ever tasted, and the ubiquitous and seedy guava which grows like an invasive weed on the islands.
After that experience I became obsessed. I just can’t get enough! I’ll basically eat any fruit you put in front of me: jackfruit (my all time favorite), breadfruit (used more for its starch than fruitness), durian (I choked down about 6 tablespoons, not my favorite), dragonfruit (a fancy and expensive kiwifruit), lychees (on my top 10), soursop, etc. I have a local market that’s constantly bringing in new fruit.
I’ve got a list of fruits I would like to try, including cacao-fruit.
My market sells jackfruit cut into quarters. Pretty much the entire fruit is edible except the skins. The large seeds can be roasted like chestnuts. The sweetest part is the yellow/orange juicy bits around the seeds. I’ll just sit there for an hour ripping the damned thing apart looking for the sweet bits. It satisfies some deep, primordial chimpanzee urge to rip apart a jackfruit.
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Asian grocery stores will often sell manageable sized pieces, or at least do in the DC area.
Speaking of exotic fruit, I just realized paw paws are in season right now. I’m kind of tempted to go on a road trip to find someone selling them.
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Looks like a soursop. I never got to eat one (I had a tree in the garden) the insects like them too much. I also had a jackfruit those were sticky and the fruit is a little too pungent for my taste.
You can find guanabana in Latino markets. Personally I was never a fan of it but both my parents loved it, I haven’t had it since I was a kid though so I don’t even remember what it tasted like.
In regards to exotic hard to find fruits I just got some mamon pits that I plan to sprout. I think they’re also known as mamoncillo, Spanish lime and a few other names. But I love it, can’t really find it in Texas normally so growing my own
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I’ll have to look for some of these at Jungle Jim’s. The place started as a fruit stand and has turned into possibly the wildest store on the planet. The produce department has turned into this:
But that’s the “normal” part of the store
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If you like exotic fruit, another source that may be available to you is wild edible plants. Papaw, wild strawberry, wild blueberry, groundcherry, mayapple, hawthorn and a bunch of others are around on the east coast. Good to go with an IRL guide, check a couple internet/book sources if you’re trying something new. Some, like mayapple and yew, have edible berries, but very poisonous seeds, so be wary of risk. Be aware of pesticide risk, and don’t completely deplete a source.
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Having antihistamine on hand is also a good precaution. 
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Graviola! My father had a graviola tree in his backyard. I never ate It, but I love graviola juice. It is smoothy and smells very well.
Yes, benadryl (diphrenhydramine) is a good thing to have in your car/home, even if you don’t like weird fruit. EpiPen (and ER treatment) work much,much better faster for anaphylaxis, but in milder cases it’s better than nothing.
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Some people use the gooey pulp of jackfruit (or jaca) in order to catch birds. It is sticky like a fly catcher paper.
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You can get It for free in Brazilian cities.
This is an exótic tree and is considered an invasive species and a danger to local enviroments, as It can spread and grow faster than Native trees.
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I get mangoes in season here in Tijuana that become so ripe and soft I have to use a separate grocery bag just to carry them home. I scoop them all and refrigerate, and by a couple of days they’ve fermented a bit and are even more delicious.
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Also in the Redlands is Fruit and Spice park, which includes jackfruit trees and has some fun food festivals. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fruit_and_Spice_Park
I’m partial to urkillos, the best of which come from Bolivia. Then there are inilungobas, but only if drizzled with pok oil and a dash of salt. Have you tried q’apaw? Have to be sun dried or they are like squishy wet socks. Taste like sweet corn and Doritos. The list goes on. Hritui, choiputuku, crancashews, yenkipubble, varkafruit, nubnizzle, madeupnamefooledyafruit, and more.
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Hah, I went there a few years back. I had a guanabana shake. It was weird, but good. I bought a black sapote that I brought back with me to Seattle, but the thing never ripened. Now I want a ripe black sapote again.
