Five Fruits You’ve Never Heard Of

I have to say, I am a fruit fanatic! To all my traveling buds out there…have you noticed how fruit tends to taste more vibrant in far-away places? I chalk that up to zero preservatives and much less processing than here in the States.

So when I’m traveling to exotic places, I’m down to trying anything and everything, and I usually do; however, I came across a few freaky fruits that I’ve never tried nor heard of.

One fruit I’ve been seeing more and more in the healthier choice supermarkets is called a physalis. Imported from South America, these fruits are are encased in a husk that looks like a Japanese paper lantern. The taste is said to be similar to a tomato and therefore used in much the same way one would a tomato – pasta sauces, salads, etc..

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This one is kind of strange because it has the ability to change your taste buds! It’s called miraclefruit and is native to West Africa. The miraclefruit is in the berry family and is named for its ability to make other sour fruits, like lemon and limes, taste sweet when combined.

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Speaking of sour fruit, the langsat can be extremely sour if eaten unripe but perfectly sweet when the fruit has ripened to perfection. Often found in India, Southeast Asia, and Bhutan, the langsat is cultivated by shaking the tree so that the fruit that is ripe and ready to eat effortlessly falls from the branches.

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Some fruits were made to be wine, and that could not be more true than that of the aguajefruit. Unusual in its reddish scale-like cover, this fruit popular in the Amazon jungle is an excellent source of vitamins A and C, and some people find that when the aguajefruit is fermented, it makes for an amazing exotic wine.

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One of the more exotic looking fruits has to be the monstera deliciosa. Native to the rain forests of Central America, this fruit looks more like an exotic flower than a fruit. Said to have a pineapple-like flesh, one needs extreme patience to prepare this fruit properly; buyers beware, if this fruit is eaten before its time (which can take as long as a year to ripen), it can be toxic.

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