Now In Season: Fruits from the Land Down Under

Growing up, I recall there were always fruits in the house. Living in a tropical country, I grew up with mangoes, lanzones, mangosteen, and of course, bananas, just to name a few. Apples, grapes and pears though not grown locally also made it to our table though not as often. Peaches I only saw come out of a can. I never really wondered where the imported fruits we  ate came from so the experience at the Now In Season event held by the Australian Embassy was educational.

I arrived early at the event with slvrdlphn. We got to walk around a bit and chat with the speakers of the event before it started since nobody was  there yet, lucky us! Here are the speakers (from left to right): John Moore, CEO of Summerfruit Australia, Anthony Weymouth, Senior Trade Commissioner of Austrade Manila, Olivia Tate, Market Development Manager of Apple & Pear Australia Ltd., and Jeffrey Scott, CEO of Australia Table Grape Association.

Plum, Apple, Nectarine

I never knew that nectarines looked similar to apples. If I hadn't been introduced to them by speaker John Moore, I'd probably still continue to mistake them for small apples. He was kind enough to sit with us and talk about how to differentiate each and let us taste them during the event. Hint: Nectarines and plums would be shipped without their stem. The scent is also very different.

He also mentioned that these fruits are the kind that are better with less handling. He told us that they try to minimize the amount of times that the fruits are touched to keep the quality high. Discovery from this set: I like fresh plums!!!!!

Take a look at this pear on the right c/o Apple & Pear Australia Ltd. This makes me think of a guava but it really is a pear. Chef Tim Hollands used this pear in his cooking demo on french toast.

He also made pear quesadilla but the video did not survive my phone crashing so I'm unable to share. I can confirm though that it was yummy! Something for me to make for the kids to enjoy with me.

One of the things I liked was that each and every fruit is tagged with where it comes from and when it was picked. If there are any problems, we can complain and it is actually possible to trace the origin of the piece. Of course, it makes no sense to complain if our own mishandling is the cause of the poor quality.

I'm used to seeing pale yellow colored pears. Aside from the guava like pear above, we also saw some brown skinned ones which reminded me of chicos (sapodilla fruit) and there was a cute tiny one (image:left) with the colors of an apple. Really cute! I don't want to eat it yet because it's so cute. Thank goodness they keep if refrigerated properly (and not handled too much) though the battle has been lost as it is now in my tummy.

A simple and delicious way to enjoy pears is to slice them in half, sprinkle with some cinnamon sugar, dab some butter and bake in an oven. Thanks for the suggestion, Ms. Olivia Tait!

Not new but certainly welcome were the grapes. We got to try three varieties at the event. These definitely are the ones I'd like to buy at the grocery. Sweet and seedless and absolutely refreshing. The color reminds me of duhat  (Syzgium cumini) which really makes me think of summers with my family, picking fruits and eating them by the handful.

All of the fruits on display (and more) are available in Rustan's, Shopwise, S&R, and Robinson's Supermarkets, in case anyone wants to try some.