Welcome to the inaugural post of Peculiar Produce! The idea behind this blog is, I go to stores and buy food that maybe most people have never had, and then I try it and tell you all about it. Don’t let the name fool you though, I won’t be limiting this blog to just produce. There’s a whole bunch of stuff out there that hasn’t been touched by John Q. Public, and I intend to tell you guys all about it.

To start things off, we’re going to look at a couple of fruits I found at my local Loblaws. Now, chances are you’ve seen these before, what with them being found at a big store like Loblaws, but you most likely passed them by, not knowing what they were, what they taste like or even how to eat them. But no more! For here, I shall explain all of this stuff and more.

First up, we have the yellow Pitahaya:

Hailing from Colombia, this fruit is actually a type of dragon fruit. It’s apparently a lot sweeter than regular dragon fruit (which I have yet to try - more on that later) and is rich in Vitamin C. To eat it, you cut in half, then scoop the contents out with a spoon.

It actually tastes pretty great, a bit like a mixture between a honeydew melon and kiwi. The seeds within are edible as well and give the flesh of the pitahaya a nice crunch. All in all, it makes a healthy and pretty tasty snack. It’s a bit pricey, though, at around six bucks a fruit, so it’s not the sort of thing you can eat every day.

The next fruit I tried was the Kiwano, also known as the horned melon for obvious reasons:

It’s native to sub-Saharan Africa, but it is currently grown in many locations around the world. Like the Pitahaya, you’re meant to cut it open.

This time, you’re apparently meant to suck the flesh out of the rind somehow. It didn’t seem to want to cooperate, though, so I ended up just scooping the contents into a bowl.

It may look like green sludge with seeds in it, but it’s actually just hundreds of these little jelly-like seed pods.

Taste-wise, I didn’t like it quite as much as the Pitahaya, although it was not bad. It was a lot more tart and sour, kind of like sour green grapes, or possibly a Granny Smith apple. Texture-wise, it felt a lot like the flesh of a grape, and you could pretty much just drink the whole thing, seeds and all, directly from the bowl (which I ended up doing). Like the Pitahaya, it contains a good amount of Vitamin C, and also like the Pitahaya, it cost me six bucks. Probably not worth it in this case.

Tune in next time, when we discuss canned meat!

David Gurman

David has never been a big fan of veggies, but because he loves you guys so much he started this blog just for you. He currently attends the professional writing program at Algonquin College and spends his free time trying not to take anything too seriously.

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