December 20, 2000

• Whoo hoo! I am glad to be back home in the tropics and have access to all my favorite fruits once more. I am a very gastronomically driven person, and I am glad that fruits like durians were available in the US thanks to the large Chinese population in the States. Papayas were a pain in the neck to find, even though I knew they were available, and they cost a bomb too! Imagine my pain when I knew I could get humungous papayas for only US$0.70 in the tropics.

  
  

  While I was in the States, I missed so many of the fruits, not just the taste, but the sight of them. Have you seen rambutans? They are a rosy fire-engine red when ripe, and the tips of their "hairy spines" are flecked with bright green. Inside their flesh is pale and translucent but sweet and tart.

  
  

  I miss too the Jackfruits and Chempedaks - Whoo hoo! They reek of gasoline when ripe, but their deep golden flesh is thick and sweet, and tastes oh-so-good! Like the durian, it's loaded with calories, but makes an excellent meal or dessert. hey...if it isn't sinful, it doesn't taste quite as good.

  
  

  But the fruit I miss the most are the mangosteens - their flesh is white as white can be but sweet and very pleasantly tart. It tastes best after it has been chilled. They don't look like much on the outside - I wonder how anyone thought they would be delicious, after all, its skin is thick and hard and produces a purple dye that permanantly stains your clothes!

  
  

  As you can tell, I am food-crazy. I think I dream of fruits in color. I have been gorging myself since I got back. Although New York apples, Florida oranges and Del Monte bananas are good sources of fibre and vitamins, i won't be eating them for a long long time!

  
  

  btw, the images for the pics came from this cool website which I have reviewed somewhere in my review section, on the same date as this entry.

  
  

  • 7:57 am
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