A Bounty of Fruit- Brazilian Style© Ofelia Nascimento
Aug 21, 2000
When you peel an orange or peel a banana, you may not be thinking about where it came from or how it got to the store where you purchased it. You'll just be sitting there enjoying every juicy bite. But what's so unusual about these fruits, after all! Well, maybe you're right. After all many tropical countries grow bananas and hey, you can even get oranges in Spain and Florida. But I'll bet you didn't know that Brazil is second only to the United States in the World's production of oranges and Brazil is the World's largest producer of bananas although Brazilians consume such a great number of this popular fruit that only a small quantity is exported.
But what else can one find in this vast, diverse country known as Brazil? Let's start with the kinds that most people recognize.Apples, apricots, avocados (this is a fruit and not a vegetable)bananas, berries, breadfruit (funny looking fruit but not particularily hard to find in North America if you have a really good fruit grocer)cherries, figs, graperuit,grapes, lemons, limes,mangos, melons, oranges,peaches, pears, pineapples,persimmons (introduced by the ever growing Japanese population that contributes to Brazil's constant appeal as a country of different cultures)plums, pomegranates,quinces (you should try this as jam, heavenly!) and watermelons! Guess what! You won't find cranberries or rhubarb. They don't grow there.
Of course this is not all.....
There's Jaboticaba! What, you say!! Jaboticaba, pretty exotic I think. And of course there's Guava and among the other 25 varieties of fruits on top of those already mentioned , there is what in Brazil is called a "Distinguished Fruit". This elegant fruit is called Fruta de Conde or sweetsop or sugar apple. At first sight it resembles a mega raspberry but in reality it resembles more an artichoke, scaly and green. The taste resembles a pear and is not found in North America except in speciality Brazilian stores. This is also true of the Jaboticaba which is very sweet and perishable. It actually grows on the tree trunk of the tree.
For more information on Brazilian fruit, including some fabulous pictures and recipes check out the three websites in my links section.
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