Star Fruit

Photo Source: Google Images

The final piece of fruit in my "tropical fruit trilogy" from Sunday's farmer's market excursion....ta da...Star Fruit.  The most familiar of the bunch, and sadly, my least favorite.  I've eaten Star Fruit before...but for some reason I couldn't remember the flavor - it was always in a salad or on a display.  It simply didn't stand out.  I was eager to give it a try and a bit disappointed in the results.

I'm a real fan of tart fruit generally, and the Star Fruit I ate today was slightly tart.  I don't know if it was the various textures I didn't like; the distinctive mouth feel of the slightly leathery skin, the juicy flesh, the soft but gristly feeling internal spines... or specifically what.  All I know is it just didn't "sing" to my taste buds.  In fact, I could likely go the rest of my life, never eat another Star Fruit, and be A-OK with that.  <shrug>  I didn't hate it - I just didn't love it.

That's too bad because Star Fruit seems like another one of those "pretty foods that are good for you".  One web site I found, Natural Living Cuisine, had a lot of good information about the fruit, as well as the same About.com article I read on Thai fruits which referenced the Dragon Fruit.  I followed the instructions for trimming and de-seeding and cutting my fruit and I had it for dessert with my dinner tonight.  As a matter of fact, it left a little after taste in my mouth - and not in a good way.  Sad...it's a pretty fruit.

It's a fruit I would, however, use again on a fruit display or as an accent in a salad...it would likely stand up to a buffet fruit salad - unlike bananas and pears.... and since I've tried it in salads before and it didn't stick out as distasteful- it will continue to be a consideration when I want an unusual, and nutritious, addition to a fruit salad!

So there we have it - three fairly unusual tropical fruits.  I intend to try some more unusual tropical fruits when I next visit the South Padre Island Farmer's Market.  I saw some things at the Rivers End Nursery and Farm stand that I didn't have any clue as to their identity.... I'm sure I'll be writing about one of those oddities in the near future.  For now, however, there ends the tropical fruit trilogy...I'm about ready for dinner out.  Hmmmm....where to go, where to go???