Produce Briefs...
Italian Black Summer Truffles
Black summer truffles are more subtle than the winter variety. Shave truffle over cooked potatoes, toss with herbs and a shallot vinaigrette. Thinly shave truffle over scrambled eggs.
Mangosteen
The Purple mangosteen, botanical name Garcinia magostana, simply referred to as mangosteen, is an ultra-tropical slow growing evergreen tree that is cultivated for its edible fruit.
Seasons/Availability
Jack fruit can be purchased in chunks, whole, or just as seed segments. Whole fresh Jack fruit are available in summer.
Current Facts
The tree bearing jack fruit can produce one hundred-fifty to two hundred-fifty fruits a year. Jack fruit hang from the tree and are suspended on sturdy stalks that grow along its main trunk and larger branches.
Description/Taste
The largest of all tree-borne fruits, jack fruit is oval-shaped and knobbly-skinned. This fruit can weigh up to eighty or ninety pounds. The average size for a jack fruit is three feet long and eighteen inches wide weighing in at forty to fifty pounds. During the ripening process, the skin turns from light green to yellow-brown and develops an intense sweet fragrance. As many as one hundred one-inch seeds can be found in each fruit, the fleshy segment that encloses each seed is considered the choicest part of the fruit. The flavor of its pink, golden, or cream-colored juicy flesh is very sweet, with a hint of melon, mango, papaya, and banana.
Applications
Immature fruit is excellent boiled, fried, or roasted like a vegetable. Mix ripe jack fruit in curries and in fruit salad. Baked or cooked, jack fruit makes desserts, preserves, and syrup. Seeds can be boiled or roasted and enjoyed as a snack or ground up and used as a seasoning.
Ethnic/Cultural Info
Asian cuisine uses this special fruit as a condiment and adds slices to their special curries.
Geography/History
Growing in the rain forests, the origin of this fruit is from India to the Malay Peninsula. The name "jack" comes from Portuguese explorers in the sixteenth century, as it sounded like "tsjaka," the Malay word for this fruit. This giant fruit now grows in most tropical areas, including South Florida and Southeast Asia.
Recipe Ideas
Recipes that include Jack Fruit. One
is easiest, three is harder.Recently Spotted
People have spotted Jack Fruit using the Specialty Produce app for iPhone and Android.
Produce Spotting allows you to share your produce discoveries with your neighbors and the world! Is your market carrying green dragon apples? Is a chef doing things with shaved fennel that are out of this world? Pinpoint your location annonymously through the Specialty Produce App and let others know about unique flavors that are around them.
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Jia Hua Fruiterer Near Shanghai, Shanghai, China About 24 days ago Spotter's comments : Nice fresh Jack Fruit. The air is dry in Shanghai I notice the Jack Fruit is cut open but seems the dry air preserves it. Marianos Near Lincolnwood, Illinois, United States About 89 days ago |
