Ever wondered what that big, hairy brown thing was lurking at the back of the veg aisle of your local supermarket? Or what to do with that scary-looking bright green fruit with the sharp bits coming out of it? If so, you need the iVillage guide to exotic fruit and veg
Glide your trolley through the produce section of most big supermarkets these days and you'll be amazed at the diversity. Gone are the days when the pineapple was considered the height of exotica - we're now faced with a freakshow of striking colours, unusual shapes and unpronounceable names.
Ackees, breadfruits, callaloos and fuzzy melons are just some of the more exotic vegetables on offer today, to say nothing of jicamas, kudzus, cherimoyas or curubas. Little wonder, then, that greengrocers refer to these recent additions to our shelves as 'queer gear'.
Although unusual to Brits, for people living in the countries where these bizarre ingredients are grown they're as common as apples and pears. So don't be shy: give them a try.
Here's a list of the more common 'queer gear' to be found in supermarkets and greengrocers. Click here for some recipes using exotic ingredients.
Cherimoya
Also known as a 'custard apple', the cherimoya is a large tropical fruit native to Peru. It has an unusual pale green skin covered in indentations, giving the fruit a scaly 'hand-grenade' appearance.
Large, black seeds run through the fruit (unlike the papaya, which has seeds concentrated in the centre). The flesh has a texture similar to that of firm custard, hence the name, and tastes like a mixture of papaya, banana and pineapple.
They are best eaten chilled - slice them in half and eat the flesh right out of the skin with a spoon, removing the seeds as you go.
Guava
A sweet, fragrant, tropical fruit native to South America, the guava comes in many sizes and colours. The varieties on sale in our supermarkets are generally oval in shape and small enough to fit into the palm of your hand, with a thin pale-green or yellow skin which should give slightly when pressed with the palm.
Guavas are a good source of vitamins A and C and are usually eaten raw or as part of a fruit salad - seeds run through the flesh, but these can be eaten safely. You can also make delicious juice, jams and preserves from them.
Choose fruit showing no signs of blemishes and, if they're hard and not ready to eat, ripen them at room temperature.
Recipe: Exotic Fruit SaladOver the page: Jerusalem artichoke and lychee
Jerusalem Artichoke
Just to confuse you, the Jerusalem artichoke is not an artichoke and not from Jerusalem. This edible tuber is actually a relative of the sunflower and it hails from North America, where it was traditionally eaten by the native Americans.
This small knobbly root usually has a thick outer skin which is peeled before eaten, although some varieties are smooth, making them easier to prepare. The colours can range from white to tan and red to purple.
When it was first taken to Europe in the 17th century, it was used mainly in sweet dishes. Now, it is treated like a vegetable or peeled and eaten raw in salads. While rich in carbohydrate, Jerusalem artichokes also contain a substance called inulin, which is difficult to digest, giving the Jerusalem artichoke the reputation of causing wind.
Recipe: Jerusalem Artichoke Soup
Lychee
Native to China and Southeast Asia, where they have been considered a delicacy for centuries, lychees are best known in western countries as a dessert offered after a Chinese meal.
They're approximately 3cm in diameter and have a thin, brittle outer skin which ranges in colour from pink to red to brown (the pinker the skin, the sweeter the taste). Peel away the skin and you find a juicy edible pulp surrounding a large, black, shiny seed. The creamy white flesh is delicately scented and said to taste similar to the muscat grape.
Other relatives of the lychee sometimes available in supermarkets in the UK are Longans and Rambutans, considered to be less delicate and less sweet than the more popular lychee.
Recipes:
Exotic Fruit Salad
Lychee Martini
Over the page: Papaya, persimmon and physalis
Papaya
Also known as a 'pawpaw', the papaya is a tropical fruit resembling a small, pear-shaped melon. When fully ripe, it has a soft, yellow skin, occasionally with red blushes, that gives slightly when you squeeze it.
The flesh is a creamy orange colour with a delicate, scented flavour and very little acidity. The seeds, which are edible but usually discarded, are a striking grey-black colour.
In the green, unripe stage, papayas can be cooked as a vegetable. As a fruit, they're a tasty part of a tropical fruit salad or eaten on their own with a squeeze of lime. Just slice in half, scoop out the seeds and eat with a teaspoon. Powerful enzymes in the flesh make the papaya an ideal digestive after a heavy meal.
Recipe: Prawn, Lime and Papaya Salad
Persimmon
Available throughout the autumn months, this squarish dark-orange fruit looks a little like a tomato, although when ripe is deliciously sweet. It's best eaten by simply chilling it, slicing off the top and spooning out the jelly-like pulp.
One variety, known as the 'Sharon fruit', can be eaten like a persimmon or used in a fruit salad.
Recipe: Tropical Treat
Physalis
Also known as the 'cape gooseberry', this golden Peruvian fruit is about the size of a cherry. It's distinguished by a rough, paper-like husk (calyx) which surrounds the fruit - this accounts for its other name: 'Chinese lantern'.
The calyx is peeled back from the pointed end, leaving an attractive 'handle', to reveal the yellow-orange fruit. It has a waxy edible skin and a juicy, sweet taste. The many small seeds are also edible.
Physalis are usually eaten raw in fruit salads and make an unusual and attractive addition to a cheese board. You can also make physalis jam.
Recipe:
Tropical Cream Baskets
Pineapple Physalis Pavlova
Over the page: Pomegranate
Pomegranate
A fruit known to the ancient Greeks and Egyptians, the pomegranate is native to Iran and has spread to many cultures over the centuries. It's one of the most difficult fruits to extract from its casing for eating so it's no wonder it isn't more popular.
Pomegranates are about the size of a large orange, and their colour can be anywhere from red to pinkish-yellow. The seeds are surrounded by a translucent red pulp and packed into compartments surrounded by a bitter, white membrane.
The seeds are hard but perfectly edible, although some people choose to spit them out. The pulp itself has a sweet-tart flavour and is nice scattered over ice-cream as a garnish or on salads as a low fat dressing.
To extract the seeds and their surrounding fruit, cut the pomegranate in half, turn it over and whack the back of it with the flat side of a knife. The more stubborn seeds may have to be prised out with the end of a teaspoon, although you give the fruit a gentle squeeze to help them on their way.
You can also buy pomegranate juice and jelly in some speciality ethnic shops. The juice is used to make grenadine, a concentrated syrup used in drinks and cocktails.
Recipe: Pomegranate Ice-cream
Over the page: Squash
Squash
Though this vegetable maybe not that exotic these days, you may be confronted by some of the more unusual offerings that spring up seasonally. Basically, it boils down to summer squash and winter squash.
Generally speaking (and as with most fruit and vegetable varieties, there are exceptions to the rule) the summer versions are eaten fresh in their growing season and have a soft skin which is not peeled for eating. They have a high water content and need only a short cooking time. They can also be eaten raw.
Some well-known summer squashes are zucchini (which is simply the Italian and American word for courgette) in both the green and yellow versions, crookneck and pattypan. The latter is the tiny squatty one that usually come in packs with other baby vegetables. In recent years, it's also become fashionable in trendy restaurants to leave the flowers on some of the small, delicate summer squashes.
Winter squash have a hard outer skin, having matured on the vine, making them perfect for storing over the winter. The hard skin is peeled and discarded, leaving the soft inner flesh for many different cooking methods.
Some of the winter squash names you may come across in the shops recently are butternut, hubbard, buttercup, cushaw, calabaza, kabocha, acorn, spaghetti and of course, pumpkin.
The flesh is full of flavour and has many uses in any number of dishes. It can be steamed, boiled, mashed or roasted on its own or used as an ingredient in pies, stews and soups.
Recipes:
- Courgette Stuffed with Moroccan Lamb and Pinenuts
- Simply Roasted Winter Squash
- Butternut Mash with Onion and Bacon
- Classic Pumpkin Pie
- Pumpkin Soup in a Pumpkin
Over the page: Star fruit and ugli fruit
Star Fruit
This is the common name for the carambola, a fruit with a waxy golden-yellow skin and five ribs or ridges running down the side. When cut in cross-section, the portions are in the shape of a star.When ripe, the star fruit should be fragrant and sweet or possibly tart (the flavour changes depending on the variety). It's usually served as a dessert fruit because it has such a striking appearance as part of a salad or as a garnish, but in Chinese and Indian cultures the unripe fruit is also cooked as a vegetable.
Ugli fruit
This Jamaican mandarin-grapefruit hybrid is rather unfairly named, as it's full of flavour, tasting somewhat like its mandarin parent with hints of pineapple and honey. The skin is baggy and thick but peels off easily to leave segments of fruit that also separate with ease. Use it as you would grapefruit in fruit salads or try an ugli fruit spin on the classic recipe of oranges in caramel.Recipe:
Ugli Fruit in Caramel SauceDo you still need help identifying exotic fruit and veg?
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