Katie by the Bay

I'm back with yet another crazy fruit to try. I have had persimmons before but American persimmons are fairly different from Asian ones. Before I go to my first impressions of the Asian I wanted to do a comparison of the two.  Unlike the Asian persimmon the American  is very wrinkly when ripe and much smaller in size. I have very fond memories of stopping on the side of the road to eat these wild in the colder months when these are in season. They can be a kind of gross texture but they taste really good. Kind of sweet, maybe similar to what I would imagine the love child of a raw fig and a date to taste. Usually very creamy but on occasion a little mealy. If I remember right they do have pits and the skin can be pretty tough. Still yummy eats and thinking about them makes me wish I had some. In this picture you can see the Asian Persimmon is about the size of a medium tomato. It feels similar to a tomato when ripe as well. A little bit of give but not squishy at all. There we...

So I am back today to share another crazy fruit that was new to me. A few weeks ago I was doing my weekly shopping and I was looking for Apricots which were on sale for a great price. Imagine my surprise to turn  to see not orange Apricots, but bright red, exotic looking Dragonfruit!  Of course I grabbed one and at over $5 a piece that was a bit pricey but how could I say no. Dragonfruit or Pitaya are apart of the cactus fruit family and come in several different varieties. The one I purchased was a white flesh variety but I have seen red flesh as well. The flesh is soft and filled with tiny crunchy black seeds; similar to a kiwi. The flavor is described as mild and sweet. With thick red skin against the white flesh and dark seeds it makes for a very eye pleasing nom. Before I go into the tasting of the Dragonfruit let me mention that I am not unfamiliar with cactus fruit. Living in Texas and having made a few trips to Mexico growing up I have had the occasional delicious purp...