Fruit Category

This firm, mildly tart apple is quite versatile. Use Cameos in pies, applesauce, salads, or just eat them out of hand.

These tend to vary in quality, so unless you're good at selecting melons, stick with more idiot-proof varieties like the honeydew or cantaloupe. Canaries should, at a minimum, have bright yellow rinds. They're in season in the fall.

These are used to make decorative flower stems on cakes.

A French specialty, these are whole chestnuts that are candied in a sugar syrup. They're used to make various desserts.

Candied ginger is ginger that is stored in a sugary syrup, but the name is also sometimes used for crystallized ginger, which is ginger that's been cooked in syrup, then dried out and rolled in sugar. The two are often used interchangeably.

The canistel fruit is orange/yellow, oval and 2 to 3 inches long. It is sweet with the texture of a hard boiled egg.

These are popular because they're easy to select and very sweet. Ripe cantaloupes have dull yellow backgrounds with raised netting. Avoid those with protruding stems, or tears in the rind at the stem end--it's a tell-tale sign that the melon was picked too soon. When ripe melons are picked, the stem falls off easily, leaving a small, clean depression. After checking the stem end, flip the melon over and check the blossom end. It should be fragrant and yield a bit when pressed. Cantaloupes are cheapest in the summer.

Like its relative the tomatillo, the Cape gooseberry is covered with a papery husk. The fruit inside looks a bit like a yellow cherry, and tastes like a sweet tomato. You can eat Cape gooseberries whole, minus the husk, or use them to make very tasty preserves. They're hard to find in the United States; your best bet is a specialty produce market in the spring.

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

There are many varieties of carosellos. They are often referred to as cucumber melons. They are a sweet version of a cucumber. Some varieties are; carosello tondo massafra, fakous, pupuneddhra bianca, carosello leccese and painted serpent.

These aren't as flavorful as other melons, but they have a fairly long shelf life. Since they have thick rinds, it's useless to smell them as a test for ripeness. Look instead at the color (it should be bright yellow), and then check to see if the blossom end yields to gentle pressure.

These are nicknamed rattle chiles because the seeds rattle when you shake them. They're a rich brown color and moderately hot.

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 medium-hot Mexican chili is used to make tamales, marinades, stews and soups. It's got a fruity flavor with just a hint of tobacco.

These are often used in Cajun recipes. Green cayennes appear in the summer, while hotter red cayennes come out in the fall. They are very hot.

These are very hot, bright red chilies. Recipes that call for cayenne pepper are likely referring to a ground powder that goes by the same name, or possibly to the fresh version of the pepper.

These sweet Italian olives are large enough to stuff. Black Cerignolas are softer than green Cerignolas.

This is reputed to be one of the best melon varieties of all.

This mild-flavored squash looks like a wrinkled, pale green pear. It needs to be cooked before serving, and for a longer time than other summer squash. You should peel a chayote before cooking it, but don't take the seed out--it's edible and tasty. Cooked chayotes make good low-fat substitutes for avocados.

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.

There are three main categories of cherries: sweet cherries, which are for eating out of hand, sour cherries, which are best suited for making pies, preserves, and sauces, and tart chokecherries.

Along with pepperoncini, this is a good pickling pepper. They are moderately hot, and range in color from orange to bright red.

These are less than an inch in diameter, perfect for adding to salads or crudité platters, or grilling on skewers. There are both red and yellow varieties.

When dried, a chilaca pepper is called a pasilla chile. They are mild.

This hard-to-find and moderately hot Mexican chili is used in soups, stews, tamales, and mole sauces. It imparts a yellowish color to dishes.

Unlike many chilies, these remain bright red even after drying, so they're a favorite for making chili wreaths. They're very hot and somewhat acidic. Don't confuse the dried version with the fresh or powdered versions, which go by the same name.

This excellent Mexican chili is loaded with flavor but hard to find. It's used to make mole negro and bean dishes. It is moderately hot.

When fresh, these fruits are crisp like apples and have a mild, sweet flavor. In the United States, they're most often available dried. Chinese are different than middle eastern palm dates.

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.