This is a tough itch to stratch. Almost NO ONE carries Dragonfruit. They are small, mildly sweet, kinda citrusy, dense, wonderful and terribly expensive little jewels. They are the seed pod of a very interesting climbing cactus that grows well Southeast Asia and the Phillipines.
So I got on the phone and went hunting. Eventually, a person who could barely speak English told me that this really big Asian food store on the south side of the city had lots of "Grabbafruds" that were "cheappie, you like" and agreed that it was "no problem" and then hung up.
So I went to the store to buy some of the rare and surprisingly cheap "Grabbafruds".
There was produce everywhere.
There were some bananas and their freakish large cousins, the Plantain.
In case you didn't know, Plantains were invented by Satan himself. Mrs. Skeeter once sent me to the store to buy some bananas. I saw these really big green "bananas" and bought a bunch of them. I thought she would be most impressed by my superior hunting and gathering skills. There were plenty of them, so I picked one off the bunch, peeled it open and took a bite. That's when I discovered that some wicked force had invented a banana that tasted like a potato. Yuck!
There is also food items that one would never find in the local grocery store, like these chicken feet. Actually, they're not too bad with a nice long, slow cook with butter, garlic, and some spice.
And here is the world's greatest, most tasty hot sauce. This stuff is hot, but it has a bright, tangy tomato and pepper flavor that really satisfies. Gotta have that kicking chicken to be genuine too!
After searching the store, I found an employee and asked where the "Grabbafruds" were. She lead me back to a multiple pallet display of puffy green grapefruits that were marked way, way down. The swarm of fruit flies meant that these "Grabbafruds" wouldn't be on the floor much longer either. I asked her about the Dragonfruit and after a couple of passes at the word, she said the truck didn't bring any this week.
No Dragonfruits for me. No "Grabbafruds" either!
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12 comments:
Well, I don't do expensive foods. Some people just have too much money to waste.
I send my extra money to MY FAVORITE FOUNDATION
As a self described foodie, all I can say is it must be nice to have that kind of variety available to you. Thanks for stopping by and leaving me a comment today :)
That's neat. I love going to the huge Chinese markets in Brooklyn. And in point of fact, they're much less expensive than my regular supermarket. But occasionally, more than occasionally, I do "do" expensive food, and now I'm quite intrigued by this elusive fruit. I may have to make a stab at finding one...
What an interesting fruit. Thanks for sharing the info.
what a fun post, though those chicken feet were particularly disgusting!!! i, too, love to prowl the strange-and-unusual produce section of our grocery stores, but i rarely buy anything there due to their exhorbitant prices. i have seen the dragon fruit but haven't tried a fresh one yet... i HAVE tried the dried fruit version that i found once at Trader Joe's. they were yummy! :)
Thanks for an imformative post.
dont get me started........
dragon fruit arent too elusive here, tho i think they're out of season right now.
being married to a malaysian chinese bloke meant that i was exposed to lots of amazing stuff before it became commonplace in this part of the world.
dragon fruit is a newish addition but theres also durian, jackfruit, rambutan, starfruit......
durian is the revolting smelling one but the funny thing is that once you start to like the fruit you also like the smell
i still wont do chicken feet and pickled eggs are just plain weird
there are chinese markets all over sydney, our local is a small but pretty well stocked one. a couple of suburbs away there is sydney's "3rd chinatown"
you can get almost anything there!
Hmmm. Never heard of them. What do you eat them with? Do you peel them? I don't know that I would even be able to see where to start...kind of like artichoke.
I have never heard of Dragonfruit.
But they sound interesting and I'd like to try one now.
I remember when I first saw Starfruit. They're really good and we ate them all winter.
We don't have a market like that here. Which is just too bad. I'd love to show Rach the chicken feet. :)
I have never tried Grabbafruds, but I do make fried plantains. Quite yummy!
There's an asian market chain here in California called Ranch 99 - they always have wonderfully foreign items for sale. I have a thing for mochi, and supplies abound at that store. Good luck with your future hunt for the elusive Grabbafruds!
Ha ha, loved the surprise at the end. Too bad!
THey sell chicken feet in Chinatown here. I haven't the stomach to ever try them. That chili paste looks good though...
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