Ted goes tropo

It’s always now in the depths of winter that I start having the recurring dreams that don’t stop until I commit a crime … a carbon footprint crime that is … or do I really?

I used to feel bad buying food that had travelled thousands of miles to reach my “out of place and out of season” mouth.  Then I read a book by a well-known UK food critic who truly loves food, Jay Rayner. It's titled “A Greedy Man in a Hungry World: How (almost) everything you thought you knew about food is wrong”.  It’s well worth a read because it’s well researched, well written, and very entertaining, much like his restaurant reviews. Jay presents a case as to why the whole carbon footprint debate only ever considers a tiny part of the overall picture, and must include the whole life-cycle from production to plate, not just the “air miles” involved. So it was with a slightly clearer conscience that I tucked into my tropical fruit bowl.

Dragonfruit – looks great and it’s easy to see how they got their name with their outer "scales". In essence, cool to look at but .. umm bland.

Kiwiano – known  as horned melon for obvious reasons.  Odd tasting really, like cucumber, watery melon, and a bit of banana thrown in … made me burp!!

Pepino – again it’s a melon, but this time from the same family as the potato and the aubergine … talk about feeling like the beautiful duckling … light weight sweetish melon flavour … but not writing home.

Mangosteen – just when I thought oh bland bland bland and my (supposed) crime was all for nothing, here comes this beauty. So desired is she (and yes indeed she is no less than the "Queen of tropical fruits") that whole websites have been designed in homage to her, confirming that she is the most gorgeous of fruits, who will only flourish in her natural homeland.  She comes in her own carriage, like Cinderella, and then she opens up to reveal her beauty, a subtle yet wonderfully captivating perfume, and you cannot help but covet her plump succulent absolutely delicious little white segments … 

Warning … obviously not all tropical fruits are created equal … my advice is never, never, never, make that never, eat Durian the so called "King of tropical fruits" ... its so pungent that its often banned on public transport ... the Queen asked for a divorce a long time ago ... for good reason, not treason.