Thursday Thirteen

Thirteen tropical fruits you might not be familiar with -

1. Tamarind - sweet and tart at the same time. (Except for the Phillipine variety which is just sickly sweet!)

2. Star apple (also known as Carambola) - slice it up to cover your plate with stars.

3. Sugar apple - tons of seeds but totally yummy - refrigerate them for a yummy treat.

4. Mango - lots of varieties - all yummy! And, yes, the skin is edible.

5. Soursop - looks odd but makes great drinks and even greater ice cream.

6. Mamee apple - custardy taste.

7. Guinep - mostly seed but that's no reason not to try them.

8. Banana - high in potassium.

9. Guava - makes for great jellies and tarts or you can just enjoy them raw.

10. Jackfruit - if nominations were open, I would definitely campaign for this to be the King of Fruits! For size AND taste!

11. Papaya - high in beta carotene and tastes great chilled, with a splash of lime.

12. Sea grapes - sweet and tart. Can be found on or near many Caribbean beaches.

13. Passion fruit - makes a great drink but I don't know that it'll do anything for your love life - some Caribbean men claims it cuts their nature (makes it hard for them to get an erection).

You can soon learn more about these in my upcoming book from Amira Press - Forty-Six Days in the Caribbean: A Girl's Guide to Sand, Sun and Sex! Isn't that just the hottest title? I'll let you know more about it, maybe even do a giveaway or two as the release date approaches.