WOW! Worst Fruit debate?

12 years ago

The selections people made were absolutely amazing to me. I wonder if the "bar" for taste is too high expecting everything to be like a mango or Lychee, or the versatility of the fruit hasn't been explored.

For example:

Guava.

I blend them with water and sugar, remove the seeds and make juice FAR better than store bought which I "used" to drink a fair amount of. Hispanic folks make excellent fruit fillings for pastries, and bread spreads with them, and some species I'm told (never had one but am hopeful of my

Ruby Supreme next year) can be great in the hand.

Papaya.

In shakes, and dehydrated I love them. I have a dozen trees dotting my property. Ice cold with a splash of sugar I can eat an entire papaya by myself

Carambola

When ripened on the tree my two cultivars are JUICY and excellent right off the tree or after being refrigerated, or sliced with a dash of splenda on them. I find Splenda far better than sugar on raw tart fruit. I'd rather eat carambola than strawberries as I think most often strawberries are way too tart without a LOT of sugar added. I could add most grapes to that comment too, though grapes don't lend themselves to sweetening.

Canistel.

People that dislike these puzzled me. I guess they either ate them too ripe or not ripe enough? Refrigerated I would rather eat Canistel than most other fruits.

I guess I have lowered my expectations of most fruit with success enough to enjoy fruit a good percentage of the year from my yard :-)

I hope people thinking of planting those mentioned in the "worst" list try to be flexible in THEIR expectations and actually try fruit before selecting one for their yard,

Does anyone else disagree on the worst fruit choices?

Gary

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Comments (7)

irun5k
12 years ago
I think you either like something or you don't, usually you know when you take the first bite. It is like a strong cheese... some people love it and other people think it tastes like feet.

However, there are a lot of cultivars out there. For example, I find the papayas that are generally for sale in supermarkets or grown locally (red lady) are not very good. However, I used to live off of sunrise papayas w/lime in Hawaii.

I think Carambola is in the same boat, I've definitely had good ones as well as ones that weren't very memorable.

For many of the other choices, I think you either love them or you don't.
bluepalm
12 years ago
I had guava fruit in my house and it seriously smelled like cat urine. I put it in a ziplock bag and it stunk (easily) through the bag). LOL!
Also, I didn't much care for the Sapodillas I've had..."a pear covered in brown sugar" is too generous IMHO. I thought it tasted like an extremely sweet carrot. Maybe I didn't have a good one. I also find Surinam cherries disgusting...but they are beautiful plants and I have friends who love them. You're right though...even a sub-standard fruit can be gussied up to make it quite good!
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trianglejohn
12 years ago
and sometimes your tastes change over time. I never cared much for guavas or figs but now that I grow them I love to munch on them while working in the yard. They're still not my favorite but I can't imagine gardening without them around.
lycheeluva
12 years ago
im a big fan of canistel though i can understand why people find the taste and texture offputting.
but i will join in the chorus of those noting that for most fruit, its all about the cultivar- for example, i think mauritius lychees are the best tasting food on the planet though there are lychees grown in china that are imported to the US after the florida season finishes that are terrible, though i challenge anyone to find a kind word to say about any cultivar of wax jambu- the most tasteless fruit on the planet.
pepperot
12 years ago
I commonly hear people say wax jambu is very refreshing.

Here's my challenge: can any tropical fruit beat a chilled watermelon on a hot humid day?

I'm just lovin watermelons now.
gnappi
Original Author
12 years ago
Y'know, it may not be the cultivar. I wonder how many folks that will not eat a not so sweet fruit like a carambola and have lemon, lime, grapefruit, avocado trees and yet find lots of uses for them by "gussying" them up?

Anyway...

"can any tropical fruit beat a chilled watermelon on a hot humid day"

That's EASY... my girlfriend :-)

Umm.. oh, maybe you mean fruit from the yard? well then I would say a Mango / Carambola salad marinated in mango juice for a day and chilled to just above freezing. Watermelon is a very close second!
pikorazi
12 years ago
i think there are two main reason why people don't like certain fruit:

1. bad/non selected cultivar
2. not propper ripeness

if you once try a fruit and you don't like it, you have to give it another chance at other time. i've tasted very bad guava, papaya, carambola... but also excellent tasting onces!

"can any tropical fruit beat a chilled watermelon on a hot humid day" hmmm... maybe chilled prickly pears ;-)