Pardon my French. I continue to be in the City of Light and am trying to post semi-frequently but ugh, so difficult!
Especially with the cafes, parks, and corner fruit markets. Without getting into how shops in Paris are different from their US contemporaries, I just want to give a quick rundown of what are the BEST fruits. Objectively. Or maybe not so objectively.
I was once the girl who said that her favorite fruits were the peaches, but I’m not that girl any longer. It’s been a long three or four (okay, two) years and I can’t ride that train forever. Besides, the original question that got me on this crazy train was asked by a guy whose answer was pomegranates (I know, really, and he was exactly that type of person) so I’ve clearly changed my mind about a lot since then (his favorite vegetable was also broccoli)…
Okay, okay, I’m just kidding. He’s a great guy and broccoli is a great vegetable. I still hate pomegranates.
- So peaches are still up there, but it is too easy to get stuck with a not that great peach
- and nectarines are lovely, like peaches with a bit more tartness and less five o’clock shadow (or downy fuzz, if we’re being generous)
- but if I had to choose now, I think I’d pick figs. They’re so wonderful tasting and obviously summery. We try super hard to grow them at home (and so do the local hard ass Italians) and get six or so each season. You burlap’em up over the winter. Tough elephant skin hiding fleshy yum yum.
- or cherries. Bad cherries are easy to spot by a simple squish test (same with figs). Downside: both of these are hard to find organic at home. Upside: both are very good for the digestion, and I’m traveling so… (I know, I know, TMI, but let’s be real)
- Speaking of the digestion, bananas. Freaking amazing fruit. An excellent dessert frozen, great dipped in peanut butter, great in PB sandwiches (Nutella is too sweet for me). And nothing better in smoothies (Recommended: chocolate milk, peanut butter and banana or blueberry, banana, and peanut butter). But not the best for digestion. And I like them super-ripe, so the bananas in our house always get eaten before they’re ready enough for me.
- Apples. I’m a New England girl. There’s nothing like a fresh-picked apple of an excellent variety from an orchard. Supermarket apples frequently suck. Granny smith and Fuji are the best you can get, but go to an orchard and you can get the whole experience, complete with cider. Oh, yes, and pie.
Applesauce is also excellent. Reminds me of preschool, great ingredient for dessert breads. Bad for the regularity. - I don’t like kiwis.
- I’m allergic to mangoes.
- Those acidic fruits. Weirdly, my stomach is very sensitive to acid (citruses and pineapple) so I don’t eat them anymore, they mess up my whole day if I do.
- Grapes- nectar of the gods, without seeds please. Green or purple? Both.
- Apricot. A few every once in a while are good, but I think I had my fill of them when mom was pregnant with me and craving dried ones.
- Blueberries and plums are boring.
- Melons! So, they’re very good- you know, honeydew, cantaloupe… But they serve them at Yale all of the time, often when they’re over-ripe or not quite ripe enough… I need a bit of a break, methinks.
- Pear. Only if it’s Bosc.
- Raspberry. Good. Better than blackberry. Also an excellent color for clothing and accessories. Mulberry is really good. My neighbor once had a bush but they moved and then the new person cut it down 😦
- Strawberry. I was once more enthusiastic about these. Now I’m just filled with strawberry ennui.
- Things that are technically fruits that I’m not going to talk about because culinarily… no.
: tomato, coconut, avocado
List Mimsy 