all her favorite fruit*
one for you, three for me
I’ve been feeling very fruity lately. Whenever I’m asked what my favorite fruit is, which isn’t very often, I give a one word answer: mangos. Hands down. But in the back of my mind I know it’s more complex than that. I have tiers of favorite fruit, mangos being on a level so far above all and basically in a league of their own. Apples, apricots and peaches are second-tier favorites. In third place are cherries, janarek, (green, sour plums indigenous to the Middle East I think) and watermelon. Fruits amazing with other foods (oatmeal, brownies) are strawberries and/or blueberries. Oh and I can’t forget pomelos! They’re wedged in there somewhere. To tell you the truth, mangos are number one. And the rest of God’s good fruit mentioned above is number two, scattered along the same plane of deliciousness. Oh, and I must not forget this one: the tomato, my favorite fruit cum vegetable.
So what’s your favorite fruit?
*All Her Favorite Fruit by Camper van Beethoven. Enjoy!
Comment by Laurie Mielcarek Shaefer via Facebook: Grapefruit~ Peaches~ Cherries. Kiddos fight over Mangos!:))
Laurie, when I was a kid (high school), my parents were living in Cairo. I wasn’t too crazy about Egyptian mangos but in the summer, somehow a box of Indian mangos would materialize. I’d always hide a few of mangos in the fridge for later. I felt my selfish act was justified because I was crazy about mangos more than anyone in the house, and therefore deserved the lion’s share.
MANGOS. MAN GOES! I have a secret: there are times during alphonso season when I find myself alone in the house for a few days. During each of these days I will buy and finish a box of a dozen alphonso mangoes in one sitting usually while watching the Disney channel. I have no allergies but by day five I find my face starts to become itchy. I think that’s my body telling me to stop. There, now everybody knows.
Oh and I also love the ‘zabdiya’ and ‘teymour’ variety but alphonso is king.
Other than mango, I love ‘mishmish ajami’ which is a fragrant yellow/pale green apricot and figs from Lebanon when they’re in season. I’m salivating.
Oooooh I don’t like figs. But I wish I did.
I wish I liked watermelon because it’s so pretty. Oh also a good custard apple is also yummy. Messy, and some may say an ugly looking fruit but very yummy. I once got a fruit basket with a fruit that had the word ‘ugly’ on. Either the fruit is called ugly or someone was being very mean.
No, sorry, just looked it up. It’s written ugli. I still think it’s mean to call a fruit ugli.
Mango
I’ve been sampling different kinds of mango! Yesterday I tried four different kinds – some were labeled, others were not. So far the best are the really small ones.
Melon
Today as an afternoon snack I had honeydew melon – heavenly!
Peter Duckett (Cairo)
Ooh. I like that you’ve categorized your fruit! I don’t like melon and I can’t figure out why.
Oh I’ve posted in the wrong spot. Sorry.
Raspberries, blueberries, blackberries … those are my absolute favourites. I also love any kind of citrus and in the winter have huge cravings for oranges and pink grapefruits. I eat a banana a day, for the potassium, and blueberries every day too cos they’re one of those superfoods. I love cooking with pumpkin and make pumpkin muffins all through the fall and winter
It’s really weird: for years, I hated almost all fruit and then I started running in my 40s and that made me crave the stuff. Now I love most of it.
I’ve never heard of the janerek before. If it’s sour, it sounds like something I’d like. I’ll need to look for them here cos I really want to try one.
Katy, the janerek (it’s the Arabic name for it) is VERY sour. I used to have it in Syria when I was living there. The Syrians eat it with salt but I like it the way it is.
I forgot pumpkins! I don’t even think of them as fruit.
I do crave fruit the older I get, and that’s a good thing. But I’ve always loved apples. Blueberries are a new thing (initially because of the superfood thing, but now I just LOVE the way they taste and especially the way they burst in my mouth upon initial bite).
Mmmm, pumpkin. Pumpkin pie, pumpkin bread, pumpkin scones, pumpkin pancakes, pumpkin muffins … I love cooking with the stuff.
Blueberries are nice to cook with too. I make a blueberry banana bread to die for.
I forgot one of my most beloved fruits in my original post: pomegranate! OhEmGee. I eat a pomegranate a day when they’re available here.