exotic fruit of australia
Posted by VegAnna on Sep 08, 2007 · Member since May 2003 · 385 posts
I'm visiting Australia right now and Cairns (where I am) has a great market on weekends with tons of fruit and veggies. I made it a mission to try all fruit I had never heard of before or never seen before.
So far I have tried star apple, custard apple, passion fruit, and I bought some sapodilla and nani fruit that I am waiting to ripen. They also have exotic fruit that I've had before so I didn't buy it: paw paw, fresh coconut, pineapple, and all kinds of melons.
Before I leave in two weeks I want to try jack fruit and durian.
What exotic/tropical fruit have you tried?
My co-worker brings me a lot of lychee berries and the like. I don't always like what he brings, but it's fun trying new fruit.
Ooo, fresh rambutan (aka hairy cherries) are good! I just bought some from a lady at the subway station (people sell everything everywhere in Shanghai). Although I am somewhat embarrassed to admit that I like the canned kind I got in the states better as they were sweeter and those things are damn hard to peel.
Also, although I think they are a Chinese thing, there are these fruits that look like a bunch of tan colored globe grapes that have a papery shell that you have to peel off. If you find those, try them, they are so good. They taste a lot like lychees only a bit more complex.
See if you can get prickly pears, and possibly what are called in English (I think) "tree strawberries" (madroños). PP are a bird to peel, but good. You probably can't get tree strawberries but then in Oz you can get just about anything.