In My Basket
Everywhere else people are complaining of the cold. And here we are, basking in the sun, just barely out of the holidays and already looking at summer. And I can tell summer is around the corner by the fruits I find plenty in the market. Nowadays, it's raining pineapples and I know them to be in season during the first days of summer. I love pineapples when they are sweet and juicy like now, and I like to eat them with cottage cheese, or sprinkled with honey. Watermelons also come plenty these days, and they're sweet and juicy and sometimes yellow, which is a less common variety, but is just as sweet as the red.
And then there are mangoes. Mmmm ... mangoes. These are perennialy available but taste best from March till May. There are several ways around mangoes. You eat them when they're green and unripe, crunchy, dipped in salt or bagoong (fermented baby shrimps or anchovies sauce), and that beats any junk food around for snack value. They can be pickled in brine, added to salads and used for souring certain soups. Just imagine all that flavor. Now for the ripe, yellow ones, I swear I can go on a week-long diet and not have to eat anything else because they are just sooooo good you are bound to forget your name while eating them.
And then there are calamansi and dalandan, these Philippine citrus fruits that every foreigner I know that visited always attempted to bring back home. The first are small round fruits that are a cross between lemon and lime that make a really refreshing juice, also used to flavor, marinate, made into salad dressing and a million other things. The other is like oranges, tangier and juicier and perfect to squeeze into a nice, cool summer drink. Mmmm .... obviously I am a fiender and these are the things in my fruit basket this morning and there is so much to be had and I love it.
Filed Under: Flavors
And then there are mangoes. Mmmm ... mangoes. These are perennialy available but taste best from March till May. There are several ways around mangoes. You eat them when they're green and unripe, crunchy, dipped in salt or bagoong (fermented baby shrimps or anchovies sauce), and that beats any junk food around for snack value. They can be pickled in brine, added to salads and used for souring certain soups. Just imagine all that flavor. Now for the ripe, yellow ones, I swear I can go on a week-long diet and not have to eat anything else because they are just sooooo good you are bound to forget your name while eating them.
And then there are calamansi and dalandan, these Philippine citrus fruits that every foreigner I know that visited always attempted to bring back home. The first are small round fruits that are a cross between lemon and lime that make a really refreshing juice, also used to flavor, marinate, made into salad dressing and a million other things. The other is like oranges, tangier and juicier and perfect to squeeze into a nice, cool summer drink. Mmmm .... obviously I am a fiender and these are the things in my fruit basket this morning and there is so much to be had and I love it.
Filed Under: Flavors
<< Home