Wes Missed It...

Previously I wrote about my misidentifying a fruit and then us having to eat it since I said, "Hey, thats jackfruit.  I like that fruit."  But it wasn't jackfruit.  It was a bit stinky, not as bad as durian I kept telling them but enough to make us roll down the windows a few times on the way home.  Later a man told us it was something in between jackfruit and durian.  So I wasn't completely off base.  Its exact name still eludes me (well ... really I heard the name three times today alone, I just can't remember it).  It reminded me of those sticky hedge apples I used to pick up in Hiseville.  I hated those things and one tree could produce 1,000 it seemed.

Well with these you pluck off a piece and the flesh kind of sticks to the seed.  Therefore you need to roll it around in your mouth and work it loose then spit out the really big seed.  Then you repeat the process as many times as you can.  Since it stinks you may not be able to eat as many as you think.  People kept telling us, "You can fry these and its really good."
So we drove home with two stinky pieces of this fruit.  Alternately rolling down the windows and getting hot and then rolling them back up.  When we got back, I gave them to a neighbor who picked it up and held it to his nose and took a long slow inhale sniffing in the tasty smell.  He said, "These are ripe."  We were thinking, "You ain't kidding buddy ... really ripe!!"  He thanked us and said he would share it with his neighbors.  Then he added, "You can fry these and they're really good."  

 Today the neighbor called and said she had something she wanted to give me.  I was a bit worried when I got there and she reminded me about the fruit.  But anything that looks this much like a hush puppie needs to be eaten.  So in they went and you know what?!?  

Here is where Wes missed it.  These things are really good when you fry them.  They lose the stinkiness and get downright tasty.  This just goes to prove the point of Southern cooking:  roll anything in flour and deep fry it and it takes on a life of its own.  Yummy!!

I broke one open for you to see the big seed.  Still a bit of rolling around but awfully nice.  Sorry, Wes.  Maybe next time!