A Plum, Not a Prune Plums are much more closely related to prunes that you might think. Officially, any   tree or shrub in the genus Prunus are considered plum trees/shrubs. Popular, refreshing dessert fruits, plums are eating fresh and incorporated into a wide variety of sweets and pastries. Certain plums can be dehydrated into…

Beetroot Vadai: Crispy, Delicious Fritters to Soothe All Winter Jitters Even a proven beet cynic like me adores these delicious, crunchy vadais (singular vadai). If you’re looking for a great way to make everyone, including kids, consume beets, then look no further than my grandmother’s go-to beetroot vadai recipe. Made with lentils and fried to…

Apricots? More like Aprigoats              Apricots are early-ripening fruits mostly cultivated in temperate regions around the world. In many ways, they’re quite like plums. Apricots can be eaten fresh, dried, canned, or cooked. The fruit itself is smooth with a large pit that has a hard nut with a seed inside. Apricots typically run yellowish orange…

         Jack(fruit) and Jill Went Up the Hill    Yes, this title doesn’t make sense! And yes, we chose to use it anyway. Jackfruit makes us a bit creative like that. Artocarpus heterophyllus, aka jackfruit, is a native of tropical Asia. India is the largest global producer of jackfruit. This exotic fruit is…

Durian Fruit: Do You Smell Something Fishy… or Delicious? Since smell is such big part of taste, I was shocked to learn that there did exist something known to smell terrible but taste delicious. The durian, also known as “king of fruits”, is an extremely nutritious, smelly, popular fruit typically grown in Southeast Asia. It’s…

From Valencia With Love: Oranges Oranges come in many varieties – but perhaps the most summery and citrusy one, in my mind at least – is the fancy, delicious Valencia orange. Sweet and juicy, with an elegant Spanish name, Valencias were first grown in that Spanish city, before rising in popularity for their perfect summery…

Pineapple: Math and Deliciousness Did you know that all pineapples have a bit to do with math? If the pineapple you’re holding is a real pineapple, its spirals will follow the Fibonacci sequence of numbers. Inexplicably, pineapples belong neither to the pine family nor the apple family, but to the berry family. Native to the…

Tangerine Dreams Tangerines: the perfect tangy little fruit snack. But what sets this delightful and picturesque little orange apart from the wide and extensive orange family? Tangerines are derived from the mandarin family, and are a small and thin-skinned variant of the Rutaceae mandarin family. Tangerine trees are quite beautiful, with glossy green leaves and…

Mellow or Pomelo-dramatic, You’ll Love Pomelo  By Jaanu Yet another citrus with remarkable properties, the pomelo is large and bears a striking resemblance to grapefruit. Shaped vaguely like a pear and originating in Asia, pomelos are sweeter than their grapefruit cousins and can even grow to the size of a cantaloupe! But they aren’t all…

Goji Berry: The Yogi Berra of the Fruit World?? By Jaanu Yogi Berra was a baseball great and Cooperstown Hall of Famer, renowned for his ten World Series rings and “Yogi-isms” like “It ain’t over ‘til it’s over.” Goji berry bears more than a strong resemblance to his name. Also known as wolfberry, goji berries…