Passion Fruit? Giradilla? NO! It is a Granadilla? A GRANAWHAT?!

I was particularly excited for this blog because it meant I had to try a new fruit that I have never eaten before. Now, as a young and upcoming culinarian, I should be trying new things all the time. But, it's not everyday I come across exotic fruit where I live. This being said I decided to branch out and travel to a new Eastern European grocery that has recently opened shop not far from where I live. The store is called Yummi Market, and is definitely worth going to. The sole reason I decided to go to this particular  place is simply because I had never been, I had heard about it, and I decided this was a great opportunity to check it out for the first time. Upon my entry I walked right into the bakery section of the store and the smell was heavenly to say the least. The bakery was gigantic putting out dozens of varieties of breads, and deserts, majority of them seeming to be of Eastern European culture. After a few minutes of looking around the baked goods I stumbled upon the produce. I quickly scanned the section looking for anything, anything at all that I have not ever seen before. I saw all the usual items, apples, all kinds of veg, oranges etc. etc. etc. and I was starting to lose hope. Alas! like a beacon of light shining through the dark I found the table with the less common, or shall I say exotic, fruit so elegantly placed upon it. At first I must admit I was quite attracted to the dragon fruit, simply because of how "freakin" cool it looks on the outside. But then, just beside the dragon fruit I found this very odd, almost plastic feeling, small, round orange fruit. Pictured here.

What you see here is called a Granadilla, and upon research I discovered it is in the passion fruit family. I picked it up and squeezed it ( as most people do for some reason when buying fruit). It felt like the plastic balls that are used in ball pits that infants play in. It reacted when I squeezed it the same way one of those plastic balls would. In other words, like a child, I took great pleasure out of putting a dent in it. I went over to one of the employees in the section and asked, " What the hell do I do with this? How do I eat it? and is it good?"He laughed, and gave me the run down on the weird orange ball and my decision had been made. I will be trying the Granadilla for the first time in my life. When I arrived home I decided to do a little research on the fruit before cracking it open to eat it. The fruit is native to South America, as many exotic fruits are. It grows in the Andes Mountains 1700-2600 feet above sea level between Bolivia, Venezuela, and Colombia. These countries also happen to be the main producer of the fruit although it is also grown in Africa and Australia. Granadilla is apart of the passiflora family, the same family as a passion fruit. It grows best in the warmer months of summer which is the main season for this fruit. I payed $2.99 for one and was informed I could get it much cheaper when in season and abundance. 

Now that I had read up on the little fruit it was finally time for me to break it open. Here is it what the inside looks like.

When you get through the hard shell like exterior, there is a "styrofoam" like shell on the inside which is filled with very tiny, crunchy black seeds which can be eaten and are said to aid in digestion. Each seed is encased it a weird jelly like substance known as the pulp. The best way to eat it I was told, is to suck out the seeds and the pulp and eat them both together. The seeds themselves have virtually no taste at all but do have a pleasant crunchiness to them. The jelly surrounding them is what provides the most delicious sweet taste I've ever experienced in a fruit.

(another picture of the inside of the Granadilla) The only way I can describe the texture would be to use the word Umami as it was like nothing I ever had and could not figure out exactly what it was I was experiencing. The flavour was utterly delicious and sweet with no tanginess whatsoever making it quite an enjoyable experience. 

I began to think about other possibilities for this wild fruit. The first thing that came to mind was to make a jam out of it, which would consist of boiling the inside pulp of the fruit with sugar and reducing it. As it turns out, this just happens to be one of the most popular ways to prepare this fruit. Here is a simple recipe I found online, http://www.food24.com/Recipes/Granadilla-jam-20091103-2. I am definitely going to try this recipe in the near future and am looking forward to eating more Granadilla fruit. There is an endless variety of fruits out there and as the old saying goes, variety is the spice of life. Living by this mantra I am now much more open and willing to explore different markets and try not only fruits that are new to me, but food in general. The passion in me to strive to learn more and more each day has definitely been ignited. One could say I am apart of the passiflora family. Until next time, Ciao for now. 

All information of the Granadilla can be found here: http://www.naturespride.eu/our-products/product-detail/granadilla/ 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passiflora_ligularis