Foodstuff: Granadilla
This is an interesting little item I picked up at our local grocery not long ago. The name sounded vaguely Spanish to me and put me in mind of the more familiar ‘pomegranate’, from which we derive the word ‘grenade’. As it happens, the name is indeed Spanish in origin, and a little bit of research revealed that the fruit is native to South America (although it is now cultivated in Africa, Australia and New Guinea). Apparently, there is another variety of the fruit which is purple in color and they are both sometimes known as ‘Passion fruit’, especially Australia, the UK and America. That name was somewhat familiar to me, as is the ‘Passion flower’, which apparently is part of the same vine-like plant that produces the fruit. In any event, is was very curious to see what this curious foodstuff might be like…
The fruit has a thick, rather tough, papery skin and, on sectioning, reveals a somewhat unappetizing greyish pulp that is very thick and mucilaginous, and contains numerous small black seeds. On closer inspection, there are some threadlike structures in the pulp and, when you attempt to scoop it out with a spoon, it is very clingy and cohesive.
I couldn’t detect much by way of smell from the fruit, but the taste was very pleasant. It is tart and sweet at the same time and the best comparison I can make flavor-wise is with the kiwi fruit, although there is also a curious, but very nice, aromatic, perfume-like quality to the aftertaste. The seeds are edible and when you bit into them they seem to enhance the tartness a little and also add a nice nutty background to the rest of the flavors. The texture is a little startling at first, a bit like a very thick custard, perhaps, but the crunchiness of the seeds add a little bit of an interesting counterpoint to that.
All in all, I rather liked this fruit, but I am not sure that I will be purchasing too many more in the future. Each of these little things contains a bare tablespoon and a half of the pulp (perhaps two), but, at 3 or 4 dollars apiece, I think I would rather buy caviar. Apparently the juice is favored in many places (and I gather sometimes turned into wine), but at these local prices, I can’t imagine what a single glassful must cost…
…
Wow, seriously expensive! If ever you visit my side of the world, I will give you all you can eat for free. We have them growing in abundance here. Have a look-see here: http://wp.me/pT5Tj-1mP and you may be interest to use your pulp like this: http://wp.me/pT5Tj-1nC
Mandy
Good posts. I see the single box they had at our store is gone… wonder if we’ll see them again?
If not, you can come to our sunny warm climate and come and eat until your hearts content.
That is one of the weirdest looking things that I have ever seen! But your mention of caviar makes me think you could use it as a “fruit caviar” garnish…
I cant say I have ever tried this fruit. What did it taste like?
I love these, at Panama we call them maracuyá. With it we make juice, ice cream, jam… But of course they are way cheaper… Actually, my grandparents had a vine in the backyard
Must be nice just to be able to pick them whenever you like!
This is a well known fruit in many parts of the world, mainly asia, the caribbean and south america. I have alway’s known it as maracuyá, even in southeast asia, although I am sure that many local names abound.
Yum!
The innards scare me. I’m not sure I could try it no matter how good it is.
I love passion fruit. We have the purple kind in New Zealand. I would like to grow a vine in the backyard. I’m thinking pavlova topped with cream and passion fruit pulp or a passion fruit cheese cake.
Haven’t had pavlova yet … must try it
You must!
It looks like someone coloured a passionfruit creatively. I love passionfruit used in other things but not so much just eating the fruit on it’s own. Throve is right about passionfruit on pavlova and with cheesecake. In fact, I’ve had passionfruit cream with both pavlova AND cheesecake this week.
It tastes great with honey and lotsa iced water on a hot day!
I love the smell too. We use passion fruit body scrubs and even house cleaning detergent and they make our house smell so yummy.
My reaction is non-food! it is really an interesting coincident. I found a blogger friend’s post on her recent trip to Bologna in italy:
http://musiqdragonfly.wordpress.com/2013/02/24/4274/
In one of the pictures she posted, I saw hanging ham in a market place, but in my sleepy mood, my brain told me they are musical instruments i saw in Turkey and Xinjiang. When I woke up, i realized they were ham instead. Inspired by their similarities, I studied and posted a post named “Musical instruments in Turkey and Xinjiang on my Blog the Notebook.
.
http://speakingabouttravel2.wordpress.com/2013/02/26/musical-instruments-in-turkey-and-xinjiang/
Now, when I looked at your post …I realized that the granadilla you posted…looks so much like those musical instruments as well. Please check it out and let me know if you agree! Discovering something is always exciting for me.
There certainly is a similar appearance!