Have you heard of dragon fruit? The first time I saw them was in the Tescos magazine in an article on exotic fruits. They looked interesting and I thought I would try one. Alas it was not to be. After many visits to my local Tesco, to no avail, I was finally told that although they had been in stock for a short while they were no longer selling them due to lack of demand!
I happened one evening to mention them to my friend Ed and he knew all about them as he had seen them on his travels in Thailand. Anyway, he managed the other day to buy some on Peterborough market at just 45p each. (Apparently in Tesco they were £2.99!)
I can now report after trying one that they don't taste as fancy as they look! To serve you simple cut them in half and then eat the flesh with a spoon in the manner of eating a kiwi fruit.
They have pale grey flesh with many tiny edible black seeds and are very juicy. Different varieties have pink or even purple flesh. I thought they tasted like melon which I am not keen on.
Anyway, as is my way I have researched them on the internet. I like to know about "stuff"".
They are apparently a Cactus fruit known as "pitahaya". Some varieties have yellow skin rather than the pink. They are said to be rich in Vitamin C and water soluble fibre. Dragon fruit are distinct from prickly pears which are from Opuntia (ficus-indica). It is possible to seperate the tiny seeds and grow your own cactus. Might try that!
There is also a lovely Chinese legend about how they got their name. For anyone interested the following web site is great: Dragon Fruit Also worth a look is : Andys Blog
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