It is the season of pepperfruit. It is. I find them on trays all around Warri – my birth city, where I spend Easter.
I’m a fan only of the red ones – sweet tooth and all. But back in Lagos, I spot the green ones and buy some to compare. What I find is what I share below. Spoiler – I still prefer the red ones after all the eating ‘research’.
Unripe/ Green:
- Flesh taut around the seeds
- Texture of the skin – crunchy
- Fragrance & Flavour – vegetal & spicy
- Hot, lingering bitterness, menthol aftertaste
- Flesh loose around the seeds
- Texture of the skin – soft, juicy
- Fragrance & Flavour – sweet & spicy
From this, you can see that there are many transitions of the fruit as it ripens.
- The flesh softens
- It becomes juicy(ier)
- The scent/ fragrances develops into this warm, spicy scent that captures me
- It is sweeter
And I think finally, I have enough – stashed away – to concoct a few things.
Though I’m a flesh person mostly, I’m saving the seeds. Again. For more exploration.
What do you think of pepperfruit? Have you tried it before? Do you do anything with it?
Apart from mangoes and pepperfruits,what other fruits are in season ?
Corn, ube, golden melon and a few others. Check out my seasonal produce calendar – https://www.kitchenbutterfly.com/2017/05/20/version-1-3-nigerian-seasonal-produce-calendar/
I’m a fan of the sweet fruit, I actually love the aroma. When I was a child, my mum made us eat the seeds when we had a sore throat or cough. They were very helpful, albeit spicy(peppery).
I can imagine they would ‘cure’ sore throats, much like alligator pepper.
I too loveeeeeeeeeeee the aroma
Never tasted it the word pepper always put me off…. but you’ve got me curious…. I think I just might try it.
Really? It has an amazing aroma/ scent/ fragrance. The seeds are a bit ‘hot’ but you don’t have to eat them. The flesh is what I love the most