Fruit Hunting

I recently watched a documentary about fruit.

I admit that this doesn't sound very promising -- but stay with me. I was led to 'The Fruit Hunters' after coming across this article; how can one possibly resist a documentary where  Bill Pullman makes an appearance in the role of 'an exotic fruit aficionado'? In possibly his best performance ever, Bill is seen ripping into various fruit with GUSTO in the middle of the Hawaiian bush and demonstrates what pure bliss looks like when he smells a mango. And imagine my delight when I learned that the documentary is Canadian-produced and narrated by my childhood love: David Suzuki! WINNING.

In all seriousness, I enjoyed the film and learned a number of interesting facts about fruit and agriculture. The timing for watching a film about fruit couldn't be more a propos, as the PH is a tropical fruit paradise, most of which is dirt cheap (by Canadian standards). I don't think there's been a day that's gone by since arriving when I haven't had at least one meal that's been exclusively fruit. Not surprisingly, mangoes have been consumed in copious quantities, as have pomelos, lychees, and melons of all varieties. That said, after watching The Fruit Hunters, I decided it was time to be a little more intrepid and have started picking different varieties of fruit that are available-- many of which I've never seen and have no idea how to peel/crack/open or which parts are edible. 

My adventures as an amateur fruit huntress were nearly derailed when I made the mistake of starting with the every polarizing durian. People who love it, REALLY love it. People who don't love it, REALLY hate it. The woman who sold me the durian was very good at convincing me that my first taste of the spiky fruit would be an elevated experience, I'd never be able to live without it after, and that it doesn't taste anything like it smells, blah blah blah...LIES, all of it. Unfortunately, I failed to capture any photos of the offending fruit, but my first take away from my durian tasting: never trust a fruit that looks like a slug and smells like Death holding a whiteboard marker. I don't think it's possible to capture in words the potency of durian's offensiveness to my tastebuds, but I described it to a friend as the following: "It tasted so bad I thought that someone had replaced the real fruit with rotten eggs dipped in yellow-dyed White Out." That whole bit about durian's glorious custard-like texture? A MASSIVE LIE. There's a part of me that wonders if I maybe just got a bad durian, and I may consider giving it a second go at some point in the future, but for now I fall squarely in the camp of durian haters. 

Thankfully, the terrible start to my fruit hunting career has been overcome, and I've discovered a number of delightful new flavours that I will be sad to leave behind in a few months from now. Even though some of these fruits can be purchased in Toronto, the prices are obscene and the flavour profiles of the fruit probably wouldn't be nearly as satisfying after they've travelled, quite literally, halfway around the world. All the more reason to indulge now, right?

Mangosteen - lovely taste, pretty to look at, but I don't think I love it as much as this guy

Surprisingly easy to tear into, the white bit is the edible part -- sort of like an oddly sweet and acidic lychee

Soursop - locally known as guyabano

It tastes like...non-descript fruit. The texture is similar to a fibrous mango, but I have a hard time trying to describe the flavour of this one

The ever exotic banana! Admittedly, not the most exciting fruit at the market UNTIL I noticed...

A BUTTERFLY! The vendor wasn't nearly as impressed by it as I was

This is the closest I got to catching the backside of its wings, which were a lovely iridescent navy blue