-^-for posterity-^-

living in my small, suburban enclave in eastern pennsylvania, i was never aware that such a variety of tropical fruits existed.

rambutan: it’s prickly and oh, so good. you crack it open with your teeth or hands and the outer cover peals away. the cover is incredibly intimidating for the sweet flesh. it looks like a small hand grenade covered with spikes. the inside is translucent and juicy. put the whole of the inside in your mouth and chew around the seeds. it wallows around and you never want to swallow.

jackfruit: it’s huge, it’s orangish and it’s deeeelicious. the outer cover of the fruit is almost as intimidating as the rambutan. i’ve never had it ripe but it’s wonderful dried. we have huge jackfruit trees outside of our building. they grow preposterously large. some are as large as a toddler except covered with spikes and filled with tropical goodness.

dragon fruit: a stranger fruit couldn’t have been created by a demented child. the outside is fire pink and tough. small, green leaves grow down towards the stalk’s base like shingles on a roof. the texture of the cover is rubber and styrofoam. grab an end and peal away. the inside is one giant, sweet, white kiwi. the juices drip off of your chin and onto your shirt and the small seeds lodge in your teeth but it’s all worth it. when you’re finished, all you have is a pink carcass ready for the trash.

milk apples: they look like real apples but they are full of milky flesh. you can eat them one of two ways. you can either slice them into quarters and scoop out the flesh and seeds with your teeth or you can squeeze them in your hands until they have softened, cut the top open, and drink. be careful of the skin though. it has a terrible aftertaste something like gnawing on a candle.

somehow these trees and vines sprung from this jungle ground centuries ago. the miracle plants take the earth and combine it in fantastic ways. filtering out some goodness here and siphoning some other from over there. it’s amazing what dirt can become.