Tired of doing the weekly shopping and buying the same old groceries? It's time to give your fruit bowl an exotic makeover that will help to keep you feeling and looking great for years to come.
1.
Pomegranate - With their golden-yellow or deep scarlet skin, sweet, tart flavor and gorgeous jewel-like seeds these are a favorite with chefs.
High in vitamins A, C and E they contain powerful antioxidants.
Add them to a salad of roast beetroot, sliced oranges and red onions dressed in pomegranate molasses and olive oil.
2.
Guava - The skins can be yellow, green and sometimes red and the white flesh contains gritty seeds.
The flesh should yield slightly to pressure but avoid blemished fruit.
Guavas are aromatic, acidic and sweet - slice them into salads, or use them in jams, jellies, sauces, sorbets and smoothies.
Serve pureed guava with meat or poultry.
3.
Mango - Round, oval or kidney-shaped with skin that's green, yellow and sometimes blushed with red.
Ripe mangoes smell fragrant.
Eat with line and cinnamon or add to the bottom of a creme bruluu or to raita.
Create a salsa of mango, lime, brown sugar, red chilli, shallots, coriander, mint and black pepper to go with shrimp.
4.
Rambutan - Their name comes from the Malay word for hair, rambut, which describes their red or yellow hairy skin.
Inside the pearly white flesh rather resembles that of its relative the lychee and it shares its perfumed sweetness though it is slightly more acid.
Firm and succulent, they're great in fruit salads or with ice cream.
5.
Passion Fruit - Their dark purple skins become wrinkled when ripe.
The golden flesh is perfumed, sweet and tart with edible black seeds.
Spoon over ice cream or pavlovas, add to a mango and avocado salad dressed in vinaigrette or combine the juice with Angostura bitters and champagne for a cocktail.
6.
Persimmon - Also known as kaki or sharon fruit, the orange-reddish skin reaches its full color before the fruit is fully ripe.
They make a great addition to cranberry or redcurrant sauces and chutneys.
Make them into a zesty salsa with spring onions, line juice, basil, chilli, mint, ginger and black pepper - fantastic with fish.
7.
Tamarillo - Skin is crimson to purple with red flesh and edible seeds.
Skins should be unblemished and the fruit slightly tart.
Plunge into boiling water then slip the skins off.
Add to apply crumbles or simmer in water and sugar and puree as a sauce for ice cream.
They make wonderful jams or pickle.
Slice into a cheese sandwich or serve sauteed with steak.
8.
Papaya - The skin ranges from pale green to yellow or orange and te fruit contains enzymes which help digestion.
Make a puree with line juice and sugar and fold into whipped cream to make a fool or create a salsa with diced papaya and mango, spring onions, garlic, lime juice, salt and pepper.
Dry seeds and grind them into salad dressings.
9.
Custard Apple - Also called cherimoya, this fruit has cream-colored flesh with large black-brown seeds.
The texture is creamy, like a firm-set custard and the flesh is sweet.
Halve and scoop out the flesh, discarding the seeds.
Use raw in fruit salads or cooked and pureed in pies, tarts and ice cream.
1.
Pomegranate - With their golden-yellow or deep scarlet skin, sweet, tart flavor and gorgeous jewel-like seeds these are a favorite with chefs.
High in vitamins A, C and E they contain powerful antioxidants.
Add them to a salad of roast beetroot, sliced oranges and red onions dressed in pomegranate molasses and olive oil.
2.
Guava - The skins can be yellow, green and sometimes red and the white flesh contains gritty seeds.
The flesh should yield slightly to pressure but avoid blemished fruit.
Guavas are aromatic, acidic and sweet - slice them into salads, or use them in jams, jellies, sauces, sorbets and smoothies.
Serve pureed guava with meat or poultry.
3.
Mango - Round, oval or kidney-shaped with skin that's green, yellow and sometimes blushed with red.
Ripe mangoes smell fragrant.
Eat with line and cinnamon or add to the bottom of a creme bruluu or to raita.
Create a salsa of mango, lime, brown sugar, red chilli, shallots, coriander, mint and black pepper to go with shrimp.
4.
Rambutan - Their name comes from the Malay word for hair, rambut, which describes their red or yellow hairy skin.
Inside the pearly white flesh rather resembles that of its relative the lychee and it shares its perfumed sweetness though it is slightly more acid.
Firm and succulent, they're great in fruit salads or with ice cream.
5.
Passion Fruit - Their dark purple skins become wrinkled when ripe.
The golden flesh is perfumed, sweet and tart with edible black seeds.
Spoon over ice cream or pavlovas, add to a mango and avocado salad dressed in vinaigrette or combine the juice with Angostura bitters and champagne for a cocktail.
6.
Persimmon - Also known as kaki or sharon fruit, the orange-reddish skin reaches its full color before the fruit is fully ripe.
They make a great addition to cranberry or redcurrant sauces and chutneys.
Make them into a zesty salsa with spring onions, line juice, basil, chilli, mint, ginger and black pepper - fantastic with fish.
7.
Tamarillo - Skin is crimson to purple with red flesh and edible seeds.
Skins should be unblemished and the fruit slightly tart.
Plunge into boiling water then slip the skins off.
Add to apply crumbles or simmer in water and sugar and puree as a sauce for ice cream.
They make wonderful jams or pickle.
Slice into a cheese sandwich or serve sauteed with steak.
8.
Papaya - The skin ranges from pale green to yellow or orange and te fruit contains enzymes which help digestion.
Make a puree with line juice and sugar and fold into whipped cream to make a fool or create a salsa with diced papaya and mango, spring onions, garlic, lime juice, salt and pepper.
Dry seeds and grind them into salad dressings.
9.
Custard Apple - Also called cherimoya, this fruit has cream-colored flesh with large black-brown seeds.
The texture is creamy, like a firm-set custard and the flesh is sweet.
Halve and scoop out the flesh, discarding the seeds.
Use raw in fruit salads or cooked and pureed in pies, tarts and ice cream.