Exotic Tropical Fruit Category

Ababais resemble small papayas, and can be cooked or grilled without losing their shape. They're hard to find outside of Chile, where they're grown.

Acai berries are from the acai palm that is native to the Amazon Basin in Brazil. The small round dark purple fruit grows in clusters. Acai berries have a slight bitter taste. Long enjoyed in Brazil Acai berries have become increasing popular world wide over the last several decades. It is high in antioxidants.

The pulp of this fruit looks and tastes like scrambled eggs when cooked, and Jamaicans like to serve it with salt cod. Look for cans of it in Caribbean markets. Warning: Only the yellow pulp on ripe ackees is edible. Eating underripe ackees that haven't opened on their own, or eating the pink portion of ripe ackees, can cause vomiting and death.

This cherimoya-sweetsop cross has sweet custard-like pulp. Look for it in specialty produce markets during the fall

Bacuri fruit have thick yellow skins and are about the size of large apple. The bacuri fruit is both sweet and a little sour and is made into condiments and drinks.

This fruit has an olive-green rind and tastes like a papaya that's been sprinkled with cocoa.

This is the plant that the H.M.S. Bounty was carrying in the South Pacific when its crew mutinied. Captain Bligh's goal had been to transport the seedlings from Tahiti to the Caribbean, so that slaves there would have a ready source of starch and calories. Breadfruit is highly perishable, so fresh ones are hard to find outside the tropics. The canned version is a good substitute. A seeded version is called a breadnut.

This is a very sweet fruit, roughly the size of an egg, with a shell the color of an egg yolk.

You won't find these in markets, but these tart plums are great for making preserves.

This Brazilian fruit looks like a squishy apple with an odd-looking stem growing out of it. According to botanists, though, the grayish "stem" is actually the fruit, and it encloses the kidney-shaped cashew nut that we're familiar with. The cashew apple is the yellowish-orange part that's attached to the fruit. This fruit is juicy but somewhat astringent due to a high concentration of tannin. Be careful of the grayish substance that encloses the nut. It contains toxic oils.

This South American tropical fruit is shaped like a pine cone and has a gray-green, scaly skin. The soft white pulp inside has large black (inedible) seeds and tastes like a creamy blend of tropical flavors. Hard cherimoyas should be stored at room temperature until they give a little when squeezed, then they should be refrigerated until they're ready to serve.

These are usually dried, but you can sometimes find fresh dates in late summer and fall. When you get them home, let them ripen on the counter for awhile until they become soft and sweet. Chinese are different than middle eastern palm dates.

The cupuacu fruit grow on medium sized trees native to the Amazon basin. The fruit is brown skinned with a white pulpy center. Cupuacu has a fruity chocolatey flavor.

This comes from a cactus native to Central and South America, and has a mild flavor. To eat it, either peel it or cut it in half and scoop out the white, polka-dotted pulp with a spoon. Select dragon fruit by pressing it gently. It should give just a little.

The weird and smelly durian has attracted a cult-like following. It's called the King of Fruits by aficionados in Southeast Asia, but Westerners usually don't care much for its mild oniony flavor. Once cut open, the durian eventually gives off such a strong and foul odor that it's banned on Singaporean subways. Look for it in Asian markets. The boiled seeds of the durian are called betons.

To eat feijoas, just cut them in half and scoop out the pulp with a spoon. They also make terrific preserves and syrups. Look for them in large supermarkets. If they're hard when you buy them, allow them to ripen at room temperature until they give a bit when you squeeze them, then store them in the refrigerator.

These bruise easily, so markets usually sell them while they're still hard and green. Allow them to ripen at room temperature until they become yellow and very aromatic, then either eat or refrigerate them. The peel and seeds can be eaten along with the juicy pulp, but some people remove them.

Ilama are hard to find outside of Mexico or Guatamala. There are two types of Ilama fruit; white and pink.

This is the largest tree-borne fruit in the world--it weighs up to 100 pounds. It's hard to find fresh in the United States, but Asian markets sometimes stock canned jackfruit. The yellowish pulp tastes a bit like banana. The seeds can be boiled and eaten. Watch out for the sap--it can stain your clothes.

This sweet and sour fruit from Southeast Asia looks like a small potato. Don't eat the bitter seed inside.

his popular Chinese fruit is about the size of a walnut, with a bumpy red shell encasing white translucent pulp that's similar in texture to a grape. The flavor is sweet, exotic, and very juicy. Don't eat the shell or the seed. Fresh litchis are available from May to July. If you can't find them, canned litchis are a good substitute. Don't confuse fresh litchis with litchi nuts, which are sun-dried litchis that have a much different texture.

Longans are very similar to lychees and rambutans. You can buy them fresh (in the summer), dried or canned.

These look like rust-colored fuzzy apples.

These are about the size of a large sweet potato. The flesh is salmon-colored, with a sweet, berry-like flavor. They're great for eating out of hand, or for making fruit salads or smoothies. Markets often sell them while they're still hard and underripe, so you need to set them on the counter for a few days until they yield when gently squeezed. Peel them and remove the seeds before serving.

Some claim that this is the most delicious fruit on the planet, though it's hard to find in the United States. It's about the size of a tomato, and has a leathery, mottled skin.

You'll probably have to go to Florida to find this bizarre tropical fruit. It looks like a banana covered with green scales, which buckle and separate as the fruit ripens. Beneath the scales are kernels of pulp, which you scrape off like corn from a cob. The kernels have a pleasant tropical flavor and creamy texture. Wait until the scales separate before eating the kernels--unripe monsteras can irritate your mouth.

The family of moyas includes atemoya, cherimoya, soursop, and sweetsop, all of which can be used interchangeably. All these fruits have scaly peels and hard black seeds, which you need to remove before eating.

This tart fruit looks and tastes like a gooseberry.

This nutritious, aromatic fruit has a tart, sweet flavor. The sweet purple variety is the most common, but you can also find yellow passion fruit (sometimes called golden passion fruit), which is more acidic, and a giant version that has a more subtle flavor. Choose fruit that have wrinkled skins (indicating that they're ripe) and heavy for their size. To eat one, cut it in half and scoop out the pulp. You can eat the small seeds, but some people remove them.

Real pawpaws are native to North America, and have green peels, orange flesh, and taste like a blend of tropical fruit. They're hard to find in markets, though, since they must be eaten within a few days of being picked. Pawpaws continue to ripen after they're picked, and should be eaten only when they yield to a gentle squeeze, like a ripe avocado. Australians use the name pawpaw for the papaya, while others use it for the cherimoya.

These are juicy and have a mild melon flavor. You can eat the peel if you like.

These look just like large green bananas, and they're usually cooked before eating. Hispanic and Caribbean use them like potatoes, either frying them or boiling them in stews. Different recipes may call for plantains in varying stages of ripeness, with their skins either green, yellow, or black. A green plantain will first turn yellow and then black if allowed to ripen at room temperature. As it ripens, the pulp becomes sweeter and less starchy.

The pulp of these cactus fruits is a brilliant red or, occasionally, a yellowish green, and it tastes a bit like watered-down watermelon. Cooks exploit the color by adding slices of the pulp to fruit salads, or by puréeing it and straining out the seeds. They're quite popular in Hispanic countries and around the Mediterranean.

These are similar to litchees and longans, but they're covered with soft spines. Peel before using.

These rose or green fruits are pear-shaped and are said to taste like rose water. The seeds are poisonous.

This is grown in Africa.