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submitted 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) by SnokenKeekaGuard@lemmy.dbzer0.com to c/asklemmy@lemmy.ml

I gotta give it to mulberries, don't get enough attention!

The buds of the flower Bauhinia variegata are both cooked amd used for pickles, spectacular stuff.

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[-] wrath-sedan@kbin.social 39 points 1 year ago

Someone else mentioned pawpaws but i just want to emphasize pawpaws are the shit. Plus if you live in the Eastern US especially the Midwest pawpaw season is HERE. You have no excuse not to leave your house this moment and find your nearest pawpaw grove.

Not convinced? Congrats you have subscribed to pawpaw facts:

  • they are related to the custard apple and were brought this far north in the shit of prehistoric giant sloths
  • they taste like somewhere between a mango and a banana, and so our ancestors in all their wisdom gave them names like Indiana banana, Ohio banana, \ banana
  • they are a CAPITALIST NIGHTMARE as they have terrible shelf life so can really only be eaten fresh or bought from a farmers market
  • foraging for pawpaws is super fun as they grow in groves, have super skinny trunks and branches with large long leaves and surprisingly big fruit. To harvest pawpaws you give the trees a gentle shake and ripe fruit will just fall off. Don’t shake too hard or you might knock down fruit that isn’t ripe! Not cool!
  • to enjoy just shake em down, cut it open and eat the fresh fruit inside (not the skin). Do not eat the big ass seeds leave them where you found em so that out beautiful native pawpaw groves FLOURISH

All in all pawpaws are 10/10 if you want to feel like a literal Animal Crossing character shaking down trees for sustenance and having a great time eating fresh fruit outdoors

[-] prowess2956@kbin.social 6 points 1 year ago

Thank you for this. These are the pawpaw facts I was looking for.

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[-] almost1337@lemm.ee 25 points 1 year ago

Appalachian area here, and more people need to know about pawpaws for sure.

Planted three paw paw saplings this spring and it looks like they're going to make it. If all goes well, I'll have fruit to share in ten years or so!

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[-] ProfessorGumby@midwest.social 6 points 1 year ago

We have those in southern Illinois too

[-] CaptObvious@literature.cafe 5 points 1 year ago

We also have them in West Tennessee.

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[-] redplayer5@lemmy.world 17 points 1 year ago

Huckleberries are real y'all.

[-] SnokenKeekaGuard@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Not willing to compete for food with a grizzly bear man. I'll take your cheapest pack of frozen starwberries pls and thank you.

[-] orca@orcas.enjoying.yachts 3 points 1 year ago

I had the pleasure of visiting Montana recently and huckleberries are delicious. I basically tried anything I saw that used them (in true tourist fashion).

[-] PP_BOY_@lemmy.world 15 points 1 year ago

My mom's tomatoes. They taste like water but my she's really proud of them and always beams when someone can taste that they're home grown. So next time you're at my moms house, make sure to ask for something with tomatoes

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[-] morganth@discuss.tchncs.de 14 points 1 year ago

Concord grapes. You all know the flavor, because it’s the flavor that artificial grape flavor is based on, but I’ve only seen the real things in farmers’ markets in the Northeast US. They’re only available for a short period, and they’re amazing. A blend of intensely sweet and intensely tart.

[-] funkajunk@lemm.ee 5 points 1 year ago

They are insanely good to eat when frozen - it's like the most amazing popsicle, so crisp and sweet.

Had nearly half a kg of those today and my throat isnt happy. Love em!

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[-] RadicalCandour@startrek.website 11 points 1 year ago

Rambutans. They look like fluffy sea urchins but you crack that shell open and it’s soooo good. Much like leches.

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[-] Carighan@lemmy.world 10 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

While sugar beet is hardly unknown, try Zuckerrübensirup if you're near Germany, a black-ish sirup made from them. You can usually also get it in the Netherlands and sometimes in Denmark at least.

There are similar products in other countries, but they lack the distinct taste the German variant has that makes it such an awesome spread! And no, it has nothing to do with Marmite, which is a good thing.

[-] CaptObvious@literature.cafe 10 points 1 year ago

Definitely muscadines and persimmons.

[-] SnokenKeekaGuard@lemmy.dbzer0.com 10 points 1 year ago

Love love LOVE persimmons.

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[-] blackbrook@mander.xyz 10 points 1 year ago

How has no one mentioned saskatoons / juneberries / serviceberries yet? Looks like a blueberry except it grows on a tree.

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[-] fubo@lemmy.world 9 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Mulberries are awesome; they're tasty and they're an excellent source of dietary iron, too.

They have two things going against them, though: as fruits they're pretty fragile, even more so than other berries; and when they're flowering, they're highly allergenic for a lot of people. Lots of cities actually ban growing mulberry trees within city limits because of the allergy problem.

Of stuff that grows right in my neighborhood in the Bay Area, California, I'd point out passionfruit and prickly-pears as somewhat unusual fruit.

Passionfruit vines like to grow on fences; they make trippy-looking flowers that mature into lemon-sized fruits full of tasty gooey arils around their seeds.

Prickly-pears are Opuntia cactus, which seem to do oddly well here in even rough and windy coastal areas. The same species can also be harvested for the young cactus pads, which are nopales in Spanish; skin 'em and fry 'em up and put 'em in vegetarian tacos.

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[-] Moghul@lemmy.world 8 points 1 year ago

Mirabella plums. Like little miniature plums, they can be quite sweet

[-] UnknownQuantity@lemm.ee 7 points 1 year ago

Wild strawberries (Fragaria vesca). Incredibly fragrant and sweet. Regular strawberryies can't compare.

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[-] Hegar@kbin.social 7 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Loquats are sweet, lightly tart and deliciously juicy. A bit like a very firm peach or plum.

Longyan (dragon eyes) are like lychees but smaller and yellow. They're less sweet than lychees (which tbh I often find a little cloying) and maybe a little more flavourful.

[-] davefischer@beehaw.org 4 points 1 year ago

Love longan. Also very photogenic. (Sometimes I buy fruit primarily to photograph.)

Image

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[-] Gargleblaster@kbin.social 7 points 1 year ago

Pomelo. Like grapefruit without the mess.

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[-] pH3ra@lemmy.ml 7 points 1 year ago

In Italy we have the chinotto, which is a fruit from the Citrus family that is too bitter to be eaten by itself, but we make a soft drink out of it that is simply perfect.

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[-] luthis@lemmy.nz 7 points 1 year ago

I received earth gems in my vege box last week. I had never heard of them before. Apparently a bit like yams or beetroot. Haven't cooked them yet:

[-] InLikeClint@kbin.social 6 points 1 year ago
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[-] anotherlemmyuser@lemmy.ml 6 points 1 year ago

My favourite langsat. It's sweet and sometimes sour, flesh is like rambutan.

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[-] LISI_III@lemmy.ml 5 points 1 year ago

Check out Taro and Cassava. Taro is a root vegetable similar to arrowroot and has now replaced potatoes for me (except for mash), and I don't even know how to explain cassava, but both are absolutely delicious when boiled with coconut milk/cream.

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[-] fiat_lux@kbin.social 5 points 1 year ago

Macadamia nuts. Not the roasted ones, not the shelled dry ones you can buy in the store. They are garbage compared to the unshelled ones, even if you do need a special device to open them and they can be very frustrating to eat fresh.

When they're freshly opened, they're opaque brighter white, sweet and even a little juicy. It's a completely different experience from the ones you can buy off the shelf. It's honestly a shame Australia doesn't have a bigger market for the fresh ones.

[-] BlueEther@no.lastname.nz 5 points 1 year ago

feijoa, a South American fruit that made it to New Zealand - now just about every backyard in NZ has one, or many of them

[-] happybadger@hexbear.net 5 points 1 year ago

Huckleberries. They're the summer ground cover in Colorado subalpine forests. Like a mix between a raspberry and a blueberry. So good when you're just laying in a hammock by a lake smoking doobers and eating berries off the ground.

[-] fiat_lux@kbin.social 5 points 1 year ago

Technically not my area, but mangosteen. Mostly grown in South-East Asia, it's a sour sweet fruit with the texture and structure like a soft orange, and one big seed per segment. It is seriously delicious.

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[-] MxRemy@lemmy.one 5 points 1 year ago

Where i live, mayapple! But you can't buy them anywhere, you have to just pick them. Luckily they're all over the place lol

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[-] Tilgare@lemmy.world 5 points 1 year ago

I went to school in Hawai'i and discovered strawberry guava - the plant is an invasive species that chokes the life out of everything it can, but it bears the most delicious fruit.

[-] timkenhan@sopuli.xyz 4 points 1 year ago

Snakefruit!

Just make sure to peel the skin off.

[-] sunbrrnslapper@lemmy.world 4 points 1 year ago

Salmon berries!

[-] HidingCat@kbin.social 4 points 1 year ago

Water apples, or wax apple. Their name is pretty much self-explanatory in terms of the taste. Really refreshing in the tropics.

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[-] Bluetreefrog@lemmy.world 4 points 1 year ago

Finger limes. Tastes like lime sorbet but with the texture of roe.

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[-] toaster@reddthat.com 4 points 1 year ago

Do thimbleberries count? Not sure how local they are to me, but they're so tasty. Think a sweeter, more fragile raspberry. They make an excellent jam! my only complaint I have is how fragile they are, they only last a day or two in the fridge

[-] argentcorvid@midwest.social 4 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

American Wild Plum

Chokecherry These make your mouth feel furry inside if you eat them, but make the best syrup for pancakes

[-] mortrek@lemmy.ml 4 points 1 year ago

Since huckleberries were already mentioned, I'll go for salal berries. Taste like flowery blueberries and make an amazing sauce, especially if you mix them with huckleberries.

[-] BananaPeal@sh.itjust.works 4 points 1 year ago

Wild blueberries. They're smaller, sweeter, and grow on a low bush. The bigger, high bush blueberries may as well be a different fruit.

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[-] GreasyTengu@sh.itjust.works 3 points 1 year ago

Dwarf raspberry/dewberry. My pop used to call it 'gumbo' for some reason.

Its a tiny little raspberry plant that produces one berry per plant, so its hard to get it in any quantity.

The fruit itself is more juicy than a regular raspberry, and tastes more like fake raspberry flavored candy. Its always a treat to find these while hiking.

[-] Ho_Chi_Chungus@hexbear.net 3 points 1 year ago

I've been meaning to look into planting some Camas bulbs. A kind of tuber crop grown by indigenous people around here. Used to be entire prairies of them before whitey showed up

I'd also like to mention Sapota.

Honorary mention to Grewia asiatica and Syzygium.

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this post was submitted on 13 Sep 2023
97 points (96.2% liked)

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