Mysteries on #marketfriday
There are so many tropical fruits that I have never tried because they are not common in my area, as I live in a "temperate" zone instead of a "tropical" zone. Among those fruits are jackfruit, breadfruit, dragonfruit, durian, and probably at least a couple dozen more that I have read about in posts from @zord, @sreypov, @justinparke, and others who have lived in tropical areas of Asia and the Americas. I do enjoy trying new foods, so I often keep watch for the unusual.
The closest town to where I live is small, touting a population of only 3000 people, which I honestly think is a bit of a stretch. As such, there are seldom many exotic things to be found in the local markets. There is a grocery store that is operated by a regional chain, so they have access to produce which other stores might have difficulty obtaining. Their exotic offerings are certainly modest, but they occasionally surprise me. I can sometimes find Carambola (starfruit), Cactus Pears, Pepino Melon, and a couple other things.
During a brief trip to the market a few hours ago, I spied something I had never seen in-person, but only in photos — a dragonfruit! 😮 I have so wanted to try one of those since I first heard of them several years ago. Each one was priced at USD $6, though. I had the money to do it, but felt guilty spending that exorbitant amount for one single fruit, especially since I would be the only one sampling it. And there was no guarantee that I would like it, although my tastes are so widely varied that the possibility of that happening is rather slim. So, I decided to be a good girl and put it back.
When I first heard of dragonfruit, it was in a blog post written by someone from southeast Asia, so that is where I thought the fruit originated. However, I was mistaken! Dragonfruit is native to the tropical portion of the Americas (Mexico, Central America, northern South America). Apparently, transported specimens grow well in the Asian climate and appear to be part of the cuisine there now, at least in certain regions.
The English word "Dragonfruit" is the name given to fruits of several species of night-blooming cacti in the genus Selenicereus. The Spanish name for the fruit is either pitaya or pitahaya. The name of the genus Selenicereus comes from the Greek word Σελήνη (Selene) and the Latin word cerus (candle) because of the night-blooming nature of the cacti in that genus. Some species have a white, fleshy interior that is dotted with tiny black seeds, similar to a kiwi fruit, while some species have red flesh on the inside. Since the offerings in my market were marked "Red Dragonfruit," I assume that was referring to the inside of the fruits, although the outside was red, too.
Perhaps one day I will find them at a lesser price and won't feel guilty about it, and give them a try. I would love to know what the taste is like. Have any of you dear readers tried them? Can you describe the taste? Are they tart, sour, sweet, creamy, or what...?!?!?
Then, after tossing way-too-much food in my cart, I found myself in the frozen foods section of the market. I thought, perhaps, some frozen waffles would be good for upcoming breakfasts as a change-of-pace. They can easily be heated in a toaster or toaster oven. I found something I'd not noticed before (or maybe it's new, I dunno?) — pancake bites. 😳 I assume it's little balls of pancake batter with a filling. They had one with a berry filling and one with chocolate. I went with the latter, which I will probably try tomorrow morning with a couple of turkey-sausage links, my frequent "go to" breakfast protein choice.
According to the front of the package, it contains 18 pancake bites. The nutritional label on the back of the package suggests that a "serving" is 5 bites. Seriously...?!?!? So, if a serving is 5 pieces, wouldn't it make sense for the package to contain either 15 or 20 pieces...? What is going on with these companies...?!?!? 🤦♀ So, #marketfriday ends this week with more questions than answers, about the taste of dragonfruit and the disparity of servings in a package of pancake bites. But, there is no question that I am going to enjoy the avocados, oranges, bananas, potatoes, yoghurt, fish, and other things that I bought! 😋
😊SOURCES
1 Wikipedia: Pitaya
2 Wikipedia: Selenicereus
15-May-2021
Dragonfruit are really nice if you get the good ones. We get a lot of them in Taiwan amd farmers actually install lights in the fields to accelerate their growth hence sometimes we get some which are less flavoursome.
The flesh texture isn't as hard as watermelon but not as soft as mango, and you can't feel the little seeds you see. Taste wise, its really quite difficult to explain, but I'd say they err towards sweet but not overly sweet, and have a nice fragrant.
The red flesh ones are nicer than the white flesh ones (they themselves are nice as well) but a note of warning, your wee and pooh turns red after you have red flesh dragonfruit so don't worry if that happens to you.
$6 each is really expensive 😣 did they come from Asia or America?
I love Durian it is my mom's favorite fruit. I like to eat bread fruit a lot. My dad love Jackfruit.
Whoah those dragonfruits are double what I can get them for and I think the ones in our stores are expensive.
Dragonfruits can go many ways. They can taste diluted and very slightly sweet. They can also taste perfectly sweet and juicy with the added crunch of the little seeds. It can be a super fun thing to eat or it can highly disappoint. We sometimes get cases of them at work for garnishing and the first thing we do is taste them to see if we got ripped off or not.
They also come in a gold yellow color skin with white flesh. They also come with a bright red flesh inside. Sometimes we don't know what we are going to get so it's pretty exciting. I hope you get to try one soon.
Wow! That is expensive! They were $4.99 at the Gucci store here and $3.99 at the Wegman's. I think that is still too much, but, knowing that they aren't coming from the local market, it probably is fair. They are in season now in Asia (or almost) until about September and so they are at their cheapest. I won't even tell you what I paid for a nice sized one, but, it makes ours look like highway robbery. I say this but, look at how far that boat ride is. I know there is extra care put in to make sure that flesh doesn't bruise. They are usually wrapped in a gel-like wrapping to keep them safe. All of this adds to the price and knowing that and how much a cruise costs... well, $6.00 may not be out of line. (it is out of my line, but, that is just over what I am willing to pay) :))
Aren't they just the coolest looking fruit?
I often thought that the texture is like kiwi, even those tiny seeds are like eating kiwi seeds. The taste is pleasantly sweet, a cross between a pear and a kiwi. I will freely admit that they tasted better in Asia than they do here, but, better is the wrong word. They are not as fresh and I don't know if they process them differently or pick them earlier. That is just my experience and or opinion, which we all know means not much. :)
Those pancake bites look interesting, and chocolate? I never! You will have to tell me what they taste like.
Jackfruit is an interesting fruit and I am not sure if you have tried it here, It is native to Jamaica and Africa, but, I am not sure where else. Those are places I have had it. I didn't know there are many different issues with glucose levels dropping for diabetics, that could be harmful. I have not seen any in my stores here, but, I know they import it.
This has been an interesting post for #MarketFriday! I love when it goes somewhere that we haven't been. Thank you so much for such a well-written contribution!
I want to thank you for taking the time and effort to post in the #MarketFriday challenge. It is wonderful to see new faces and many of the same faces every week. It has been interesting to see the different cultures surrounding this weekly event. A car wash here in the States is not a big deal. Some people were horrified that I paid to have my car washed. Not usually, but, I do. Different cultures. I will always be fascinated by it.
I am sure it is a challenge to try to submit something fresh, or different and I understand not wanting to go into crowded spaces. It is outright crazy that #MarketFriday has survived the pandemic. I just think it is the can-do attitude of all the people. Thank you! Through all of this, we have discovered that we have added new dimension to the tag. As many have been staying closer to home, we have also discovered more and more about each other, and that has been pretty nice. I have to admit, with the platform broken into different communities and tags, we get to see the same people, more or less that join every week, so we get to know each other a little bit. The challenge points out our differences, but, then, it also shows many things our cultures share. When the day is done, it shows off how human we all are and how we basically all care about our families and others. We embrace each other as humans.
This experience is so heartwarming. I appreciate the love and support given to #MarketFriday! Your participation adds a piece of your world, and I have to say, people are interested in is seeing it. This entire challenge has opened up the world to me and so many others. Thank you again for being a part of all this! I am so happy to see you here! I hope you have a fabulous day! Hive on!!
Fridays are all about the #MarketFriday Challenge! Looking to take part in it? Here is how:
How to Participate:
Go to the market! Any market will do! Food, clothing, plant, or animal, if you wish. You can go to the zoo, an art auction, and restaurants. Anywhere or anything that you pay money for any kind of service.
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Post the picture.(s)
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Upped and reposted
Dragon fruit... I occasionally eat them when they are available!
I wouldn't buy it for $6, hehehe.
I like dragon fruits but here small one is 15 SRD nearly one dollar and difficult to find them. I just to buy it one time and one fruit for taste. I just wanted to know what its taste in Suriname. In Cambodia I buy them a lot because not much expensive. The one-kilo white dragon fruits are 4000៛ to 5000៛ or 1$ to 1 25 cents and for red dragon fruits, one kilo is 8000៛ = 2$. Here expensive all the fruits. I just buy bananas to eating often, when I come back to my country I buy all the fruits and eat like rice with food lol. Have a beautiful day ❤️
Funny, we had never seen pepinos until we landed in Ecuador, and it was an exotic-to-us fruit. Well, I hate to admit you aren't missing out much on the dragonfruit. In Cambodia pink-fleshed is slightly more expensive because it is believed to have more flavor, but if you close your eyes before putting it in your mouth, the white-fleshed is more delicious.
That being said, they are 90% exactly the same as the flavor of a kiwi. Even the texture is a bit kiwi-like. I have found affordable exotic fruit as far north as Indiana, but the best prices are always gonna be stuff grown in Mexico. A 30 minute drive from my little farmtown in the USA, there is a Chinese market that sells Mexican jackfruit and dragonfruits. Perhaps pursuing a Mexican market might land better prices in the future.
Seeing that Eggo logo triggered all kinds of childhood memories.
Those are such gorgeous looking fruit! I also love tasting new and unusual flavours. Especially when it comes to fruit. We don't get dragonfruit here in SA. Well we seldom do and for a steep price. But we managed to get one to plant. So hopefully our homestead will soon have it's very own exotic fruit! Thank you for sharing @thekittygirl. Loved how your nails match that striking pink fruit