I recall reading somewhere that the fruits we get in our local
supermarket represent only a fraction of a percent of all the fruits
available in the world. Furthermore, the fruit we do get are chosen
not because of their taste but more so because of their low price from
large economies of scale.

So how would one go about sampling all the infinite varieties of
exotic fruits that exist in the world? I'm sure there must be some
truly delicious ones out there that we've never heard about!

I'm surprised nobody has thought of opening a fruit bar that only
sells exotic fruits. Sure the price would be high, but fish is flown
in from all over the world and that is not terribly expensive. Plus
fish is a lot more perishable than fruit.

On Fri, 29 May 2009 21:37:24 -0700 (PDT),
shouted from the highest rooftop:

>I recall reading somewhere that the fruits we get in our local
>supermarket represent only a fraction of a percent of all the fruits
>available in the world. Furthermore, the fruit we do get are chosen
>not because of their taste but more so because of their low price from
>large economies of scale.
>
>So how would one go about sampling all the infinite varieties of
>exotic fruits that exist in the world? I'm sure there must be some
>truly delicious ones out there that we've never heard about!
>
>I'm surprised nobody has thought of opening a fruit bar that only
>sells exotic fruits. Sure the price would be high, but fish is flown
>in from all over the world and that is not terribly expensive. Plus
>fish is a lot more perishable than fruit.

When I lived in Southern California you could get some beautiful fruit
- exotic and otherwise - from specialist fruit & vege stores and
upmarket, boutique grocery stores. Same goes for New York City.

The prices were steep when you're not only paying for top quality, but
for fruit picked a lot more ripe & flavoursome than volume outlets
like supermarkets will get.

The same goes for New Zealand. Exotic fruits and veges are difficult
to find in the small provincial town where we shop. But when we lived
in Auckland, we had a fantastic Indian greengrocer who could source
the best of the best. He was the only person other than myself I'd
trust picking tomatoes for me.

BTW - have you ever been in the fruit & vege business? I have ... as
well as working in a large retail fishmongers. The spoilage with fruit
(and some veges) is far higher than with fish. And it wasn't at all
uncommon for us to put a thousand percent markup on things like fresh
figs and berries to cover the "shrinkage."


--

una cerveza mas por favor ...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~
Wax-up and drop-in of Surfing's Golden Years: <http://www.surfwriter.net>
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~

> wrote:
>
>I recall reading somewhere that the fruits we get in our local
> supermarket represent only a fraction of a percent of all the fruits
> available in the world. Furthermore, the fruit we do get are chosen
> not because of their taste but more so because of their low price from
> large economies of scale.

That's not true, tropical fruits are far more prolific than those crops
found in US markets.


> I'm surprised nobody has thought of opening a fruit bar that only
> sells exotic fruits. Sure the price would be high, but fish is flown
> in from all over the world and that is not terribly expensive. Plus
> fish is a lot more perishable than fruit.

Actually much tropical fruit is far more perishable than fish... fish
doesn't bruise nearly as easily, and fish doesn't need to ripen, and much
seafood is shipped live. Many tropical fruits can't be shipped once ripe,
they're too delicate, and some have a shelf life of mere hours, if picked
'green' they are inedible and will not ripen off the plant, and many are
ruined by refrigeration. Most people on the US mainland have never eaten
field ripened pineapple other than canned... fresh pineapple for export is
harvested green and once picked does not ripen. Btw, pineapple is native to
Central America. Some of the larger US cities have produce markets that do
carry a pitifully small variety of tropical fruit, not of very good quality,
and expensive. Many Hispanic markets do sell a larger variety of tropical
fruit, also frozen and as nectars/juices. Did you know that there are more
than 300 kinds of bananas, US markets typically sell only one type, maybe
two. Bananas ripened on the plant taste very different from those you buy
in the market. The tomato is a semi tropical fruit, those purchased in US
markets, even in summer, are not very tasty because they are picked green
and artificialy ripened while in transit... the only way to have good
tomatoes is to grow your own... I grow my own tomatoes but those I bring in
at the end of the season to ripen on the counter never come close in flavor
and texture to vine ripened. Even farm stands pick tomatoes early.

wrote:
> I recall reading somewhere that the fruits we get in our local
> supermarket represent only a fraction of a percent of all the fruits
> available in the world. Furthermore, the fruit we do get are chosen
> not because of their taste but more so because of their low price from
> large economies of scale.
>
> So how would one go about sampling all the infinite varieties of
> exotic fruits that exist in the world? I'm sure there must be some
> truly delicious ones out there that we've never heard about!
>
> I'm surprised nobody has thought of opening a fruit bar that only
> sells exotic fruits. Sure the price would be high, but fish is flown
> in from all over the world and that is not terribly expensive. Plus
> fish is a lot more perishable than fruit.
>

There are bananas in other countries that are delicious, but they have a
thin skin, they would suffer from too much bruising.

Other countries grow beautiful pineapples, but you can not ship them to
Hawaii. Cassavas can not be shipped to Hawaii or Puerto Rico. Brazil
has some awesome tangerines that are really large, but we can not get
them here. We can not get Japanese cucumbers. It could be our local
growers who try to prohibit the importation of these fruits, and
possibly for legitimate reasons. Or not.


Becca

On Sat, 30 May 2009 13:29:12 GMT, "brooklyn1"
> wrote:

>
> wrote:
>>
>Actually much tropical fruit is far more perishable than fish... fish
>doesn't bruise nearly as easily, and fish doesn't need to ripen, and much
>seafood is shipped live. Many tropical fruits can't be shipped once ripe,
>they're too delicate, and some have a shelf life of mere hours, if picked
>'green' they are inedible and will not ripen off the plant, and many are
>ruined by refrigeration. Most people on the US mainland have never eaten
>field ripened pineapple other than canned... fresh pineapple for export is
>harvested green and once picked does not ripen. Btw, pineapple is native to
>Central America. Some of the larger US cities have produce markets that do
>carry a pitifully small variety of tropical fruit, not of very good quality,
>and expensive. Many Hispanic markets do sell a larger variety of tropical
>fruit, also frozen and as nectars/juices. Did you know that there are more
>than 300 kinds of bananas, US markets typically sell only one type, maybe
>two. Bananas ripened on the plant taste very different from those you buy
>in the market. The tomato is a semi tropical fruit, those purchased in US
>markets, even in summer, are not very tasty because they are picked green
>and artificialy ripened while in transit... the only way to have good
>tomatoes is to grow your own... I grow my own tomatoes but those I bring in
>at the end of the season to ripen on the counter never come close in flavor
>and texture to vine ripened. Even farm stands pick tomatoes early.
>
>
>
Living in the sub tropics as we do, Sheldon is correct. Pineapples
should ripen on their plant as should bananas. Makes a whole lot of
sense because I think the sugar action happens as a plant ripens.

I remember going from Hawaii to the East Coast as a teenager and
buying some bananas. (We always had bananas growing in our yards here
and they were a natural in my diet.) Oooooh they were so awful and I
found out they were picked green and allowed to "ripen" in the store.
Tasted totally nasty and green despite the yellow skin.

Plant ripened makes all the difference and one can hardly ship around
mangoes or tangerines or local oranges as they are fragile. Best
eaten when naturally matured.

And don't get me started on avocados. Hawaii grows tons of especially
yummy ones and they could stand 2or 3 days in transit when fully
mature, but you know- California won't let us ship them out of Hawaii.
Would ruin the pathetic Haas market for them.

aloha,
Cea

pure wrote on Sat, 30 May 2009 06:50:28 -1000:

>>
> Living in the sub tropics as we do, Sheldon is correct.
> Pineapples should ripen on their plant as should bananas.
> Makes a whole lot of sense because I think the sugar action
> happens as a plant ripens.

I have enjoyed unusual bananas in Hawaii, especially red ones, but I do
not agree that bananas should always ripen on the plant. To me, the
perfect banana is yellow with a few green stripes and has a slightly
acid taste. I won't argue that there are not uses for fully ripe bananas
in cooking but I dislike them for plain eating.


--

James Silverton
Potomac, Maryland

Email, with obvious alterations: not.jim.silverton.at.verizon.not

"James Silverton" > wrote in message
...
> pure wrote on Sat, 30 May 2009 06:50:28 -1000:
>
>>>
>> Living in the sub tropics as we do, Sheldon is correct.
>> Pineapples should ripen on their plant as should bananas.
>> Makes a whole lot of sense because I think the sugar action
>> happens as a plant ripens.
>
> I have enjoyed unusual bananas in Hawaii, especially red ones, but I do
> not agree that bananas should always ripen on the plant. To me, the
> perfect banana is yellow with a few green stripes and has a slightly acid
> taste. I won't argue that there are not uses for fully ripe bananas in
> cooking but I dislike them for plain eating.
>
>
No matter what degree of ripeness you prefer bananas are best picked
directly from the plant. In the tropics where bananas are grown it's very
typical to buy bananas by the entire stalk, it's hung outdoors in a shaded
spot and folks pick as they want (be wary of snakes and tarantulas). The
bananas at the bottom ripen first, the stalk contains enough sustanence that
the bananas ripen as though still on the plant. I like bananas still firm
too but there's a world of difference picking off the plant or stupidmarket
bananas off your countertop. When I lived in Belize I learned to live like
the natives, there no one keeps fresh fruit in their living space, even with
window screens they would attract too many insects, the iguanas, large
birds, and other critters would rip right through your screens to get at
the fruit. There are many exotic fruits that grow naturally in Belize that
are never seen in the US, or anywhere else on the planet for that matter.
Bananas on stalks are sold by street venders, as are all other exotic
fruits... and all other foods... you want a tasty rain forest rodent roasted
on a stick the street venders have it... the national food of Belize is the
gibnut. Unless you're adventuresome be sure to order your rice and beans
with shrimp, otherwise that pork or chicken is likely to be rat or iguana.
Most of the exotic tropical fruits are not eaten out of hand, they just
don't lend themselves to that (their textures are not condusive and their
flavors are much too intense), they are typically diluted, made into ice
cream, jams, cold beverages (alcohilic drinks), or fermented into delicious
wines. Exotic tropical fruits generally have so short a shelf life that they
must be processed that day or they rot... they also have a very short
season, some maybe a week that they can be harvested... with some of the
rarer varieties they only produce fruit every few years, that's what makes
them rare. Btw, bananas don't grow on trees, they grow on a herbaceus
plant, the planet's largest herb. The pineapple is the planet's largest
berry, the coconut the largest seed. In the tropics you needn't worry too
much about anything you see moving, it's what doesn't move that can kill
you... don't touch anything... more than one native has died harvesting
coconuts encountering a deadly snake wound about the coconuts and fallen
some 40 feet to his death. In the tropics everyone checks the undercarriage
of their vehicle often... many roads are barely roads, just a muddy rocky
path through the bush so one is forced to go slow, snakes sunning themselves
in the road often hitch a ride into town, could be a deadly coral snake or a
just as deadly 25 foot boa... don't purposefully drive over these snakes,
the weight of your vehicle won't hurt it but you'll bring it home.

On Sat, 30 May 2009 06:50:28 -1000, pure kona >
wrote:

>And don't get me started on avocados. Hawaii grows tons of especially
>yummy ones and they could stand 2or 3 days in transit when fully
>mature, but you know- California won't let us ship them out of Hawaii.
>Would ruin the pathetic Haas market for them.

I think it has more to do with disease and insects - Hawaii has to be
even more careful with imports.

--
I love cooking with wine.
Sometimes I even put it in the food.

Sheldon wrote:

> I grow my own tomatoes but those I bring in at the end of the season to
> ripen on the counter never come close in flavor and texture to vine
> ripened.

Use them while they're still green! I have a green tomato I plan to cook
tomorrow. My plan is to cut it into wedges, lightly coat the cut edges with
rice flour, then cook until lightly browned. The wedges will be added to a
pan of pork tenderloin medallions cooked with onions and bell peppers, then
the whole thing will be served on top of polenta.

Bob

On Sat, 30 May 2009 18:13:00 -0700, "Bob Terwilliger"
> wrote:

>I have a green tomato I plan to cook
>tomorrow. My plan is to cut it into wedges, lightly coat the cut edges with
>rice flour, then cook until lightly browned. The wedges will be added to a
>pan of pork tenderloin medallions cooked with onions and bell peppers, then
>the whole thing will be served on top of polenta.

It sounded so good, until you got to the cornmeal mush! ;D

Carol

--
Change "invalid" to James Bond's agent number to reply.

"Bob Terwilliger" > wrote in message
...
> Sheldon wrote:
>
>> I grow my own tomatoes but those I bring in at the end of the season to
>> ripen on the counter never come close in flavor and texture to vine
>> ripened.
>
> Use them while they're still green! I have a green tomato I plan to cook
> tomorrow. My plan is to cut it into wedges, lightly coat the cut edges
> with rice flour, then cook until lightly browned. The wedges will be added
> to a pan of pork tenderloin medallions cooked with onions and bell
> peppers, then the whole thing will be served on top of polenta.
>
>

I usually fry the fully green ones but I use seasoned cornmeal, or pickle
them (I like fermented sour tomatoes). But these are the ones that are no
longer green but not ripe either. The fully green ones won't ripen anyway.
In order to ripen they need to have that whitish area around the stem end
and some blush of pink... some will ripen, some will rot... even the ones
that turn red won't taste good. I sort through the ones at the end and fry
up one batch of the fully green ones but typically toss all the last dregs
into the compost bin... by the end of the season I'm tired of tomatoes... by
mid September I'm saladed out, I'm ready for junk food, bring on the pound
cake and chocolate pudding.

On Sat, 30 May 2009 20:19:53 -0500, Damsel
> wrote:

>On Sat, 30 May 2009 18:13:00 -0700, "Bob Terwilliger"
> wrote:
>
>>I have a green tomato I plan to cook
>>tomorrow. My plan is to cut it into wedges, lightly coat the cut edges with
>>rice flour, then cook until lightly browned. The wedges will be added to a
>>pan of pork tenderloin medallions cooked with onions and bell peppers, then
>>the whole thing will be served on top of polenta.
>
>It sounded so good, until you got to the cornmeal mush! ;D
>

I used to make mush just to put in the refrigerator to set up so I
could fry up squares for breakfast. It's delicious served with maple
syrup!

--
I love cooking with wine.
Sometimes I even put it in the food.

Damsel wrote:

> It sounded so good, until you got to the cornmeal mush! ;D

You just say that because you haven't had GOOD cornmeal mush. If you tasted
it the way *I* make it... oh, never mind, you know the rest of it. :-)

Bob, who will probably broil polenta squares to give them that "toasty"
flavor

On Sat, 30 May 2009 19:28:53 -0700, "Bob Terwilliger"
> wrote:

>Damsel wrote:
>
>> It sounded so good, until you got to the cornmeal mush! ;D
>
>You just say that because you haven't had GOOD cornmeal mush. If you tasted
>it the way *I* make it... oh, never mind, you know the rest of it. :-)

ROFLMAO! I'll bet I'd like it if you made it.

>Bob, who will probably broil polenta squares to give them that "toasty"
>flavor

Wouldn't it get toastier if you broiled blobs of the stuff? Just
askin'.

Carol

--
Change "invalid" to James Bond's agent number to reply.

wrote:
>
> I recall reading somewhere that the fruits we get in our local
> supermarket represent only a fraction of a percent of all the fruits
> available in the world. Furthermore, the fruit we do get are chosen
> not because of their taste but more so because of their low price from
> large economies of scale.
>
> So how would one go about sampling all the infinite varieties of
> exotic fruits that exist in the world? I'm sure there must be some
> truly delicious ones out there that we've never heard about!
>
> I'm surprised nobody has thought of opening a fruit bar that only
> sells exotic fruits. Sure the price would be high, but fish is flown
> in from all over the world and that is not terribly expensive. Plus
> fish is a lot more perishable than fruit.


Import regulations for one thing. Dead fish aren't likely to infect
native fish stocks. Diseased/pest-carrying produce can cause a problem.

Try your local 'ethnic' grocers. They may have more 'exotic' fruits. But
in any case, the fruits are hard to find because they are 'exotic'. LOL

In article
>,
wrote:

> I recall reading somewhere that the fruits we get in our local
> supermarket represent only a fraction of a percent of all the fruits
> available in the world. Furthermore, the fruit we do get are chosen
> not because of their taste but more so because of their low price from
> large economies of scale.
>
> So how would one go about sampling all the infinite varieties of
> exotic fruits that exist in the world? I'm sure there must be some
> truly delicious ones out there that we've never heard about!
>
> I'm surprised nobody has thought of opening a fruit bar that only
> sells exotic fruits. Sure the price would be high, but fish is flown
> in from all over the world and that is not terribly expensive. Plus
> fish is a lot more perishable than fruit.

A friend of mine who is from India said he was surprised at the small
selection of fruit we Americans have in our grocery stores. I live in
the Philadelphia area and my friend told me that the variety of
different fruits he can find back in India at farmers markets and
grocery stores is amazing compared to back here in the states.

I figure that it has a lot to do with the cost to transport fruits. Many
fruits don't transport well because their shelf life is short or they
are delicate, plus there has to be a decent market for them here in the
states in order to make it profitable.

Still, if you live in a big city with lots of ethnic grocery stores, you
can find a lot of fruits and other items on the shelves that big
supermarkets don't bother to stock.

In article >,
Stan Horwitz > wrote:


> I figure that it has a lot to do with the cost to transport fruits. Many
> fruits don't transport well because their shelf life is short or they
> are delicate, plus there has to be a decent market for them here in the
> states in order to make it profitable.

I think the supermarkets just don't want to stock them.

Here in California, there is the threat that Spanish will become the
dominant language. I live in a lower middle class neighborhood, and I
would estimate that about half of our neighbors are Hispanic. A new
supermarket opened up about three blocks from my house. I visited it
for the first time a few days after it opened. My wife was out of town,
so I wanted a hot pepper (she doesn't like hot foods). In the produce
section, they had jalapenos and serranos, both for US$.99 a pound. So I
got one of each. I've found that the jalapenos the last few years have
very little heat, enough so that even my wife can eat them. I get to
the checkstand, and the checker just stares at the peppers. Even when I
told her what they were, she had no clue. She finally finds a code for
one of them, and just weighs them together. I think it was around
US$.10 for both.

--
Dan Abel
Petaluma, California USA

"Stan Horwitz" > wrote in message
...
> In article
> >,
> wrote:
>
>> I recall reading somewhere that the fruits we get in our local
>> supermarket represent only a fraction of a percent of all the fruits
>> available in the world. Furthermore, the fruit we do get are chosen
>> not because of their taste but more so because of their low price from
>> large economies of scale.
>>
>> So how would one go about sampling all the infinite varieties of
>> exotic fruits that exist in the world? I'm sure there must be some
>> truly delicious ones out there that we've never heard about!
>>
>> I'm surprised nobody has thought of opening a fruit bar that only
>> sells exotic fruits. Sure the price would be high, but fish is flown
>> in from all over the world and that is not terribly expensive. Plus
>> fish is a lot more perishable than fruit.
>
> A friend of mine who is from India said he was surprised at the small
> selection of fruit we Americans have in our grocery stores. I live in
> the Philadelphia area and my friend told me that the variety of
> different fruits he can find back in India at farmers markets and
> grocery stores is amazing compared to back here in the states.
>
> That's just not true. India has a different climate so they have
> different produce but no way do their food stores have more than US food
> stores, no other country on the planet even comes close to what food
> Americans have to eat, both in quantity and variety... and in fact you can
> tell your envious bigoted friend from me that most of India's population
> is malnourished, starving, filthy, and diseased... a good meal for the
> average Indian is if they can find something to eat when they pick their
> nose.

On Fri, 29 May 2009 21:37:24 -0700 (PDT),
wrote:

> I'm surprised nobody has thought of opening a fruit bar that only
> sells exotic fruits. Sure the price would be high, but fish is flown
> in from all over the world and that is not terribly expensive. Plus
> fish is a lot more perishable than fruit.

Then they wouldn't be exotic.

I'd be happy if I could just find decent common fruits/vegetables in
the market. I'd settle for tomatoes, for starters.

-sw

On Sun, 31 May 2009 20:43:07 -0500, Sqwertz wrote:

> On Fri, 29 May 2009 21:37:24 -0700 (PDT),
> wrote:
>
>> I'm surprised nobody has thought of opening a fruit bar that only
>> sells exotic fruits. Sure the price would be high, but fish is flown
>> in from all over the world and that is not terribly expensive. Plus
>> fish is a lot more perishable than fruit.
>
> Then they wouldn't be exotic.
>
> I'd be happy if I could just find decent common fruits/vegetables in
> the market. I'd settle for tomatoes, for starters.
>
> -sw

amen, brother.

your pal,
blake

Dan Abel > wrote:
>
> ... I get to
> the checkstand, and the checker just stares at the peppers. *Even when I
> told her what they were, she had no clue ...

I've had radiccio and belgian endive charged as cabbage, and
I even tried correcting the cashier. And then the next time I'll
encounter a cashier who'll explain the difference between two
peppers that I couldn't tell apart. Diversity ...

On fruits - There are a lot of fruits that spoil rapidly and that
no one has figured out to can commercially. In the midwestern
US there are paw-paw trees that produce fruit that are only
good for a couple of days - That's too fast to even make then
into preserves.