Dear Reader, I thought I might get our blogging journey going by introducing you to a few exotic characters that are fruity in nature — and that are now ripe and juicy and in season in Iran.
Meet azgil. An ugly fruit that tastes, uh … good?
Let’s get started by meeting this creature. If Tim Burton ever created fruit, it would look like azgil.
Azgil (medlar in Latin) is indigenous to Iran.
It is brown as you can see, with crinkly paper-thin skin. It tastes kind of sweet and it is squishy soft In texture. I don’t like its name. I don’t like its taste. I don’t care for it. Not even one bit. I do kind of harbor some twisted affection for its weird exterior aesthetic but it certainly does not look any more appealing if you slice it and look at its innards.
The macabre messy innards of azgilt
What’s inside azgil? Peer at your own peril!
Even so, azgil is quite popular with a lot of people, and some of those thus fond of this quirky fruit, slice out the top part of the fruit and then squeeze out the fleshy gut of azgil — POP — right into their mouth. I am for certain not one of those people.
There’s also a Japanese azgil (or “loquat”) and I wrote about that particular creation of the omnipotent creator of our peculiar matrix in a chatty and juicy earlier post here.
Moving on!
Still life with Persian yellow plums — you can make a wickedly good Persian stew with these little sweets
Next, let’s meet this sweet cute innocent looking specimen that is a type of plum.
These little yellow plums, or “aloo zard” (literally “yellow plum”) or “aloocheh”, (aloocheh literally means little plums — isn’t cute?) are soft, juicy, and sweet. They are not my favorite fruit either, but I don’t mind them. I did use them to make a succulent chicken and plum Persian stew and they turned out wonderful. If one were so inclined, these little yellow plums could also find themselves whirling around as an ingredient in an autumnal “āsh” (hearty Persian soups) but verily, little yellow plums are pretty much mostly enjoyed simply as fresh fruit.
Important note: Don’t mistake aloo zard with zard aloo!
Feijoa (aka pineapple guava) is known as Fojia in Iran. Just to add to the fun!
Let’s now meet this truly exotic being that is properly called Feijoa but is called Fojia in Iran. Cultivated in the Caspian sea region of Iran, feijoa’s true origin is however from Brazil.
Family friends with a fruit garden in the region gifted a little basket of their last harvest of the season of this tree.I’d never seen or tasted this fruit before receiving this harvest gift.
My very first taste reminded me of pineapple. My taste buds did me proud because Google then said that this fruit is called pineapple guava due to its pineappley taste and aroma. In texture it is soft. Just like azgil, feijoa is also squishy inside, but it is more spongy. Fejjoa also has a way more photogenic gut than azgil. Although it is not too hard to win that beauty contest!
What is wrong with me, dear reader, for snarking on innocent fruits? Never mind. Let’s continue.
What’s inside the feijoa fruit
You can chop off the top part and then squeeze out the fruity flesh and pop it into your mouth — just like with azgil. I tried it. And guess what? I don’t care for fojia’s taste either. It tastes like a meek pineapple. Like being kissed by Ashley Wilkes when you are really lusting after Rhett Butler. Personally, I can live happily ever after without it.
What I can’t live without though are pomegranates. Gimme, gimme, gimme more.
Gimee all the pomegranates in the world!
Black pomegranate arils look just like regular arils
Black pomegranates — as photographed in the cover image — are characters well worth getting acquainted with. However, let’s reserve that introduction for another post because I think black pomegranate deserves its own post.
Meanwhile, hope you enjoyed this post about the various fruits your faithful blogger does not enjoy eating, ha ha, and if you’d like to support your snarky blogger, please:
- Do share Fig & Quince’s posts with your friends and family:
- Do follow and engage with moi on Instagram and Facebook;
- And in general, please do continue to be the amazing and kind human being that you are and do not shade innocent fruits as I did.
Thank you, kiss kiss, and till very very soon.
No Comments