Originally Posted By Mary Poppins I just bought some at the produce store. I was in an Asian market the other day and asked the lady behind me at the cashier stand what they were. They are called logan. I ended up buying them yesterday. They taste exotic. They are brown like lichee nuts and you peel the skin. Inside is a seed. The pulp is exotic tasting but I didn't really care for it.
Originally Posted By RoadTrip Exotic fruits? My first thought was of the Tranny Dancers at the "Gay 90's" club in Minneapolis. ;-)
Originally Posted By Mary Poppins To get back to the original discussion. Has anyone tried fresh lichee nuts (wow, that could be misconstrued). I have had the canned ones.
Originally Posted By trekkeruss Can't remember the last time I had any lichee nuts. I don't eat much in the way of exotic fruits. Come to think of it, I don't eat much (fresh) fruit at all, or at least not as much as I probably should. I'd be curious to try, or at least smell, a Durian.
Originally Posted By Mary Poppins We have a large Asian population here and there are plenty of foods to try. I have heard of a Durian. Will have to keep my eyes open for one when shopping.
Originally Posted By BlueDevilSF Mary: With regard to the durian fruit, you'll smell it before you see it, most likely! I love passionfruit, but it's realllllly expensive here in MN. I used to get it in CA for much more reasonable prices.
Originally Posted By Mary Poppins Frankly, I don't think papayas are worth the money, either. Here, they taste like soap but I have had some in Hawaii and they were delicious.
Originally Posted By trekkeruss There's plenty of Asian people and food markets here in northern Virginia. One international market I frequent has durian. The fruit don't smell though; you have to cut one open for that to happen. I don't care for papaya, but I like mango.
Originally Posted By Mary Poppins There are 2 types of mango, the small golden one and the bright red, bigger one. They take a little work to eat, though.
Originally Posted By Tinkeroon I've never figured out the popularity of papaya! It tastes so...meh! So I've always wondered if I've just had bad ones because you sure see a lot of them used on cooking shows and in the tropical locales. So maybe it's like you said MP, in Hawaii they have good ones. Probably in other places too. But the ones I've tried here just didn't do anything for me. And I've never heard of a durian. What is it like? Mango is good though!
Originally Posted By Faline "And the Lord did grin, and the people did feast upon the lichees, and nuts, and carp, and durians, and oranges, and breakfast papayas, and exotic fruit bats..." Sorry Mary Poppins. It's an affliction with me now. Pay no attention to me.
Originally Posted By RoadTrip <<Trippy, did you go to the Gay 90s???>> I went once with some open-minded friends. Interesting to say the least... ;-)
Originally Posted By BlueDevilSF ^^^ Yep, I have. It's pretty good stuff, but I have never seen it at any markets here in Minnesota. As for the quality of the other fruits mentioned, oh yes, I think location has a lot to do with it. A co-worker of mine who never traveled outside of Minnesota in her life suddenly found herself having to travel for work to India a few years ago. While she was there, she had pomegranates that she said made anything we get here pale in comparison. She said she has a lot of good memories of that trip, but the taste of those pomegranates in particular is one of the most vivid.
Originally Posted By davewasbaloo True, most fruit in the UK taste aweful because it is picked green and imported. The only exceptions are apples, cherries, berries and pears. Produce is one of the things I really miss from living in the central valley. I am not a huge exotic fan when it comes to fruit. But I like physalis, lychees, and figs. MAngo is only nice in chutney IMHO.
Originally Posted By Mr X ***There are 2 types of mango, the small golden one and the bright red, bigger one. They take a little work to eat, though.*** I had the most amazing mango experience. I was in Mexico near Cozumel, in line to reboard my cruise ship when I found this tequila guy...so naturally I hoped out of line to relax with a beer and a tequila (he poured a "shot" that was probably 5 shots...yikes!), ANYWAY he says "you like Mango?" and I was like "sure", and he came back with a fully peeled and pitted mango on a fork covered in Mexican spices. Sounds gross, but it was AMAZING (the sweet mango mixed just perfectly with the hot spices making everything taste totally perfect). Side note, he gave me a complimentary tiny bottle of tequila (with worm) to take with me, and the mango was also free...all in all a great deal for 10 bucks U.S., but I digress... Ever since then, I can't enjoy a "plain" mango, I want my Mexican spices to go with it (and tequila).
Originally Posted By trekkeruss <<she had pomegranates that she said made anything we get here pale in comparison>> It's funny how pomegranates have exploded onto the scene, or at least it seems that way to me. I don't recall hearing or seeing so much about pomegranates say, five years ago, but now food producers are putting it in everything they can think of. Speaking of quality, nothing beats fruit produced by small local growers. I tend to not like most supermarket tomatoes because they're so blah. I also don't like cantaloupe... I can only think of one time when I had one that I actually enjoyed.
