I was born in Iba, Zambales, Philippines and during the summer time when I was growing up, we always enjoy eating mangoes coming from my grandparents farm. They have quite a number of mango trees and different varieties too. We have the big one we call “dinamulag” which literally means ‘like carabao’ because it is…
Coconuts when eaten fresh and young is considered as a refreshment when I was growing up in the Philippines. We drink the water inside the coconut and then by cutting the coconut in half, the white flesh will be revealed and that’s very good to eat indeed. The mature ones are utilized as a culinary…
Cashew nuts are my favorite snack food. I always wish I could eat the fresh roasted nuts from my hometown that I was accustomed to. Eating the fresh roasted cashew nuts is really a treat. It always remind me when I was a young kid, playing with the raw nuts as jackstones and then roasting…
Macopa or Mountain Apples are in season now in Hawaii and they look delicious. Their red color make them almost look like red delicious apples. They are crunchy and succulent and although not too sweet, they are refreshing to eat. Each fruit have a seed inside which you can discard because they are not edible.
Atis is sweet and taste like custard hence the name custard apple. The white flesh is segmented and each segment has black seed inside. It is related to soursop and the anonas. They have developed a hybrid of these fruits and call it Atemoya or Cherimoya. The flesh can be made into ice cream or…
Tamarind or sampalok as we call it in the Philippines is a versatile fruit. We can make it into candy or jam, we can use it in cooking as a souring agent for the ever popular “sinigang” or you can eat it as it is ripe or raw. Also the leaves were used too in…