KIWI FRUIT- Probably no longer considered exotic since it has been in common use to add colour and favour to the standard fresh fruit salad since the seventies. Now also regularly appears on meringue nests and some of ihc gooier cakes in the bakers. Deliciously flavoured but a real pain to peel, If you think that Lemons are full of vitamin C think again -by volume the Kiwi Fruit has ten limes more. Don't use in jellies if you want the jelly to set -contains an enzyme that dissolves gelatine.
KUMQUAT - Sharply flavoured little citrus fruit which is eaten whole. Saves all that bother of peeling but is a bit on the tart side. I love them.
PASSION FRUIT - The wrinklier the better. Pleasant perfume and keen flavour. The insides of a couple added to a fruit salad help to perfume it.
PINEAPPLE - Another fruit that requires effort but well worth it. Probably not considered really exotic since the Victorian era. The awful tinned version in syrup bears no resemblance to this sharp, sweet, succulent fresh fruit. Like Kiwi Fruit it has an enzyme that dissolves gelatine. It also dissolves protein and workers in the canning factories have to wear gloves to avoid it dissolving their fingers. This does, of course, make it an excellent tenderiser for meal,
LYCHEE - I can still taste the first lychee I ever ate - about twenty years ago. (Now forty years ago and I can still taste it!) I shall die happy if I live without repeating the experience.
DURIAN - I haven't tried this evil-smelling customer but understand that if you hold your nose while preparing it the segments are like dreamy almond flavoured custard. Because it smells like something the Environmental Health Inspector brought in, you cannot get it in the supermarkets but it is found, sealed in soldered tins, on the Chinese supermarket shelves.
GRANADILLA - Another one Ihaven't tried According to Michael Bateman it has 'meltingly beautiful seeds' and is adored by children - presumably those with rich parents.
PITAHAYA - The soft, sweet, marshmallow pith is dotted with innumerable edible seeds. Another one that children are said to like and only marginally cheaper than the Granadilla.
SHARON FRUIT - I tried this not so long ago and was totally uninspired. Apparently it needs to be well ripe or it remains very tart so I may try again sometime, I concur with Michael Bateman's view - 'It ought to be a winner but somehow it tastes like a fruit put together by a committee.'
WATERMELON - Mark Twain called it 'the fruit the angels cut' and who am I to argue. Scrumptious outdoors on a hot day but lacks something in other circumstances just as fish and chips always tasted better out of the newspaper. I shall always recall Richard tucking into one that seemed twice as big as his head when he was eighteen months old. A ripe one should sound hollow when tapped.
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