Most American’s stick to the same food, week in and week out without little variation at all. Incorporating more fruits and vegetables into your diet can be a lot more enticing when you have more options. So, look for these the next time you’re in the grocery store or at the farmer’s market.
Jackfruit
Bigger than a watermelon, jackfruit is eaten all over Southeast Asia, where it’s prized for its starchy qualities and often incorporated into vegetarian curries as a result. It has a second use, though, in canned form swimming in heavy syrup, making it suitable for dessert uses. Native to southern India, the plant is a cousin of the mulberry, and jackfruit is the world’s largest tree-borne fruit.
Loofah
Not to be confused with the plastic shower aids in bathrooms across the country nor the late great Luther Vandross, this fruit is also known as ridge gourd. When young and tender, it tastes almost like zucchini, but as the fruit grows old and woody, the flesh melts away, leaving the abrasive skeleton. As a tender young vegetable, loofah is indispensable to Chinese and Indian cooking.
Radicchio Variegato di Castelfranco
Yes, this leaf vegetable that looks like a blood-spattered flower opening is a form of radicchio—and has the slightly bitter taste associated with that popular salad green. This type of radicchio hails from the region around Venice, Italy and is occasionally available at fancier groceries that stock Italian products.
Cherimoya
No, it’s not a funky artichoke-this heart-shaped fruit native to South America is a cherimoya, also referred to as a “custard apple.” While it may be rough and bumpy on the outside, the actual fruit flesh is smooth and creamy, like custard. Described by Mark Twain as “deliciousness itself,” a ripe cherimoya blends flavors of pineapple and banana. Can’t find it in your grocery store? Bottled water brand Aquafina now makes a Tropical Cherimoya flavored water.
Pummelo
It may look like a giant grapefruit, but the pummelo is more than meets the eye. Hailing from Asia, the super-sized fruit has an ultra-thick skin that gives way to a fresh, citrusy flesh. Sweeter than your typical grapefruit, this widely-available gem makes a great breakfast side, salad topper, or fruit salad add-in.
Karela
This bumpy orange or green squash is somewhat alarming-looking, and the flesh is laced with quinine, giving it an its alternate name of bitter melon or bitter squash. Accordingly, it’s usually cooked with brown sugar to allay the extreme flavor—though many find the bitterness an attractive quality, and the vegetable is often paired with lamb or goat in Pakistani cooking, and also used extensively in Chinese cuisine.
Kiwano melon
It may look like something from outer space (and, in fact, it once made an appearance on Star Trek), but the Kiwano melon is actually grown in Southern Africa, California and New Zealand. Nicknamed the “horned melon,” its yellow, stubby exterior encases a bright green, jelly-like fruit with edible seeds. The fruit has a citrusy flavor that some liken to a mix of cucumber, lime and banana.
(BONUS FRUIT) Rambutan
Rambut is Malay for “hair”, and looking at the fruit, this makes perfect sense. Rambutan is native to tropical Southeast Asia (in particular the Malay-Indonesian region), and is very closely related to the lychee.
The tender fruit inside a Rambutan is described as sweet and sour, similar to a grape.
So where do you find all of these gems?
Remember there are unusual fruits and veggies at farmers’ markets, and in food stores that appeal to your gourmet side. Challenge youreself to be the first in your clique to break out a botanical product that no one else has ever heard of before.
It feels good to help expand people’s minds and tastebuds.
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