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| Mystery Fruit #3 |
At first glance, I thought it was a Gala Apple or perhaps a Dinosour Egg pluot. But it was perfectly round, about the size of a tennis ball, and not apple-shaped in the least. The wet market man told me it was a Passion Fruit. All the pictures I had seen of passion fruit were of the wrinkly skinned, dark purple variety, so this beautiful specimen was a bit of a revelation to me. In Texas, I only had it as part of a tropical fruit punch from a bottle at the grocery store. On our visit to Hawaii a couple summers ago, I enjoyed passion fruit (called lilikoi there) in salad dressings, jams, and syrups drizzled over shaved ice. This was my chance to have one fresh!
Sometimes, I play "Guess What It Looks Like Inside" with myself. Before cutting open a mystery fruit and taking a bite, I try to guess what I'll see after slicing through it. Umm... I didn't expect to find this.
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| Passion Fruit |
The thick, outer rind surrounded a big glob of slippery, yellow pearls of fruity flesh encasing each individual, dark seed. I'll admit that the first thing that came to my mind was Frog Eggs.
Scooping out a spoonful, I slurped it up, seeds and all. It was tart but sweet and tasted like the tropics, kind of like pineapple but not exactly. I've been eating them straight out of the rind but mean to start mixing them into my morning yogurt.
One interesting tidbit I came across is that the name has nothing to do with libido. Instead, it's a reference to the Passion of Christ. From Wikipedia:
The name was given by missionaries because the parts of the flower seemed reminiscent of the torture (the Passion) of Christ prior to his crucifixion:Related Posts:
- The three stigmas reflect the three nails in Jesus's hands and feet.
- The threads of the passion flower resemble the Crown of Thorns.
- The vine's tendrils are likened to the whips.
- The five anthers represented the five wounds.
- The ten petals and sepals regarded to resemble the Apostles (excluding Judas and Peter).
- The purple petals representing the purple robe used to mock Jesus' claim to kingship (Mt. 27:28)
Mystery Fruit #1: Ciku
Mystery Fruit #2: Elixir of Immortality
Mystery Fruit #4: Mangosteen
Mystery Fruit #5: Dragonfruit
