It’s a Tomato! It’s a Cherry! It’s a Cape Gooseberry!

Also known as a Ground Cherry, this super little fruit (that’s a relative of a tomatillo) references Superman in more ways than one. Apart from having a ‘Cape’ attached to it, this cherry sized fruit contains a chemical, Cryptoxanthin. But fear not! This is not Kryptonite! Cryptoxanthin converts to vitamin A, which equates with its having anti-oxidant properties. I’m sure that Superman would have enjoyed these as a snack. He would have been able to swoop down in either North or South America where these are native. When you fly around and have superpowers, this is the bonus you get for having to fight bad guys most of the time. Maybe he picked some for Lois to use in a salad or enough for her to make preserves or a pie (who knows? maybe Superman likes to cook too!).

You and I don’t need a cape or superpowers to try these. All that’s required is a willingness to try something new and a trip to the farmer’s market. Just peel back the husk and eat the berry inside. You’ll be able to report back to your friends on this planet that it’s slightly tart, slightly sweet and very mild mannered.

Uhibbu Lemon Cucumbers!

Saturday’s farmer’s market at Grand Army Plaza was packed! Pip, Pookie (Pip’s pal has been staying with us) and I ran into canine and foodie pals alike. This is one of the few venues where we can all shop together. Sterling’s people, Cat and Dave, insisted that I take home some ‘lemon cucumbers’. Who could refuse that sort of directive? We had already joined Habibi (Arabic for “Beloved”) and his person, Glenn. Glenn is a very well traveled man, who, of all the off-leash crowd (wonder what the dogs call us?) could probably explain BCE (we are about to get to that) and a few other things as well. But, for all Glenn’s erudition, lemon cucumbers were a mystery for him as well. We had a mission! One farm stand later, culinary adventures bagged, dogs and off-leash acquaintances headed back to our respective kitchens and, as it turns out, research sources. Glenn and I had the twin impulse to get home and consult greater food minds.

How do I know this? Here’s the link that Glenn sent about Lemon Cucumbers.

My favorite source, McGee, writes that cucumbers were domesticated in India around 1500 BCE which is an awfully long time ago (what’s BCE? Here’s a reference from Wiki and one from About.com). A cucumber is in the squash /cucurbit family, keeping company with, well, squashes and watermelons! Apparently, watermelons and cucumbers are related, a good illustration of pointing out the obvious…. as in, duh… of course! It never really occurred to me before, but makes complete sense now. What isn’t obvious are these cucumbers.

Make sure to wash off any little prickles left on the outside and eat whole like an apple. Alternately, if you are feeling fancy or want to share, slice them and pull out some fancy imported salt to use sparingly as a seasoning. That’s it! They taste nothing like a lemon, so it’s not about looks! It is about a refreshing, mild cucumber that is easy to eat by itself or use (skin and all) as an easy addition to a seasonal summer salad. Ah… uhibbu lemon cucumbers! (Glenn tells me that this is the companion verb to Habibi. ”Uhibbu” is the Arabic verb for ‘I love’. Apparently Glenn’s dog is a pure-bred noun.)

Monster Revealed

I love it when things happen the way they’re supposed to. This happened yesterday. Just as promised (and as in any good scary story) our monster shed his ‘scales’ only to expose an inner sweet self. The fruit looks like corn-on-the-cob. The ‘kernels’, exposed after the scales peel away, start to protrude and you can either pick them from the ‘cob’ or use a fork to tease them into a bowl. In this case, two bowls.

Sylvia’s review? “Tastes like gummy candy.” My take? A beautiful blend of pineapple and banana flavors. Not scary at all, just thoroughly tropical and monstrously delicious.

Waiting for the Monster (fruit)

Here’s another addition to the annals of weird fruit. Well, weird to us. My guess is that this tropical fruit might be standard fare if you lived near it's rainforest origins in Mexico or Panama. This particular fruit (the one in the photograph) was purchased at the Food Coop earlier today and was grown in Florida. That's not exactly meeting locavore requirements, but it didn't need a passport either. I hope you’ll forgive me! I can only explain my desire for the exotic by saying that small adventures are substituting for bigger ones these days.

But back to our Monster… this morning I passed over one of its companions because the skin wasn’t looking as smooth and unblemished as this one (using the usual principles for fruit buying). Well, it turns out that the less attractive bin mate was closer to being ripe. This is a work in progress. Just as in an earlier entry about Ugli Fruit, we are going to have to revisit this edible adventure when it’s ripe. In the mean time, the instructions wrapped around our monster (Creature from the Black Lagoon comes to mind, which was, by the way, one of the first movies to be released in 3D), tells me to keep it upright, stemside up in a glass, until the scales drop off by themselves. We are in this together! I’ll report back when Monstera Deliciocia transforms into a tasty tropical delicacy.

Planets, Peaches, Donuts and Emperors

Unlike the core of Saturn that is filled with iron, nickel, silicon and oxygen compounds, Saturn Peaches are filled with fruit that has delicate almond undertones (the almond is a relative of the peach) and is sweeter than the usual variety. What are the other advantages (apart from not requiring space travel)? They are not as fuzzy as a regular peach and the stone (pit) doesn’t cling to the inside flesh the same way it does in an ordinary peach. Less mess at the core. They are a hardier shape, easier to hold and easier to squeeze into your lunchbox!

Saturn peaches were introduced to the Western World from China in 1869. A Saturn peach in China during the 1800’s, could only be planted in the royal grounds of The Emperor. There was a lot of unrest in China at this time. It’s nice to think that once in a while there was a break for these lovely peaches… a donut break! Which is the other name that you will find applied to these lovely fruits.

Mother Earth News has an article called Top 10 Reasons to Try a Donut Peach. They also have an article, ‘Saturn’ Peaches, that has a little more about how this Chinese fruit tree was adapted to be more cold hardy. All of which explains why this peach, with out-of-this-world sweetness, is now readily available to Emperors and mere commoners here on earth.

Adventure! Mystery! Dragon Fruit!

Who could resist? Sylvia had an appointment close to China Town and after we had taken care of business, it was either go home or seek adventure. We had no way of knowing that our decision would lead us to this unearthly discovery. OK, OK…. we were in search of something new, and this being New York, you can pretty much bet that if you want an adventure, all you need to do is put one foot in front of the other and go!

These were on fruit stands everywhere. By the time we had explored the Chinese market underneath the Manhattan Bridge, enjoyed soup dumplings at Joe’s Shanghai Restaurant (our server was very happy to demonstrate the proper eating method… that is after we survived the agony of watching our table mates consume massive quantities before our order arrived), and discovered a beautiful shop dedicated to chopsticks (I have already placed my Christmas request), we were on a roll. So far everything had been delightful the thrill of adventure made passing over these rare looking fruits impossible.

Actually, after a bit of research, it turns out that Dragon Fruit is not all that rare. You probably won’t find it at your local supermarket, and because it’s tropical you certainly won’t find it at the Farmer’s Market (I do feel a bit sheepish about buying a ‘passport required’ food, but we were in discovery mode!). It turns out that South America, Asia, Australia and Hawaii all produce pitaya. The fruit of a cactus plant, this pink and green one is called Sweet Pitaya. According to a Dragon Fruit web site, these beautiful fruits require bats to successfully pollinate. The flowers necessary for pollination bloom at night, and bats are the night shift! This is possibly the first time the thought of bees needing to sleep has even occurred to me.

Our impulse purchase was similar to Kiwi and mild. I enjoyed my half, Sylvia wasn’t so keen, but did not find it objectionable either. Her half is in the fridge cooling down… we are going to see if it’s more appealing chilled. The reward for being adventurous is eating a fruit that is full of fiber, antioxidants and vitamins. Low in calories too!

End of the day assessment? All in all a successful adventure and another food mystery solved!

Not Quite Nicoise

It’s still very hot in Brooklyn (who says there’s no such thing as Global Warming?). This means that we are still in our ‘Salad Days’. Salad in summer is the counterpart to soup in winter. You can make something special to recipe, or simply scour the supplies on hand to invent something yourself.

A Nicoise salad is a famous main course ‘composed’ salad that has potatoes, beans, eggs, tomatoes, tuna, anchovies, capers and its namesake, Nicoise olives. All this wonderful stuff rests on lettuce lightly dressed with a lemony dressing. Sounds great, doesn’t it? (OK, you can skip the anchovies, but you are really missing something… that goes for the capers too)

That said, rather than get all worked up about making an authentic recipe, I’d like to encourage you to make a Not Quite Nicoise. Get out your biggest bowl and start with the main structure, lettuce and some sort of dressing (here’s the Dijon dressing that we learned about). Now gather anything you like (within reason, let’s not get too silly). Most pantries have a can of tuna (drain it before using), an onion (purple? peeled and sliced very thin?), a sliced hard-boiled egg, maybe some beans and potatoes. Blanch the beans the way we cooked the Edamame. A simple guide to cooking potatoes follows. Get ready to assemble the ingredients and guess what? You’ve almost got a meal! All you need to do now is text a few friends and have them to stop by the bakery to get a nice loaf of bread. Wait until they arrive, dress the lettuce just before serving and compose (yourself)!

Boiled Potatoes
(I recommend small red or yellow ones with thin skins. Try to buy spuds of a similar size)

• Wash your potatoes and cut out any ‘eyes’ (small sprouts)
• You can cook them whole or cut them in quarters or similar sized pieces
• Place potatoes in a deep pot with cold water to cover and a large pinch of salt
• Bring to a boil (large rolling bubbles)
• Cook until tender. A skewer or sharp knife will go in easily when they are done. Try not to cook them into mush.
• Drain and let cool. This can be done way in advance and can be refrigerated in a tightly covered container for up to 3 days.

Footnote: I didn’t mention peeling, because I like the skins. It’s your choice!