When I travel, I love to find new and uncommon foods from around the world. I always visit local markets and grocery stores to hunt unusual produce and regional ingredients. When I get home, I enjoy looking for those unique foods here in California.
A few months back, I decided to plan a Bay Area meetup to share some of these interesting global foodie finds. I scoured local ethnic food stores and specialty grocers to buy a selection of rare and unusual fruits–the weirdest stuff I could find here in California. Bay Area grocer, Molly Stone’s Market and their produce supplier, Melissa’s Produce offered to contribute a selection of uncommon fruits to last weekend’s event
1. Durian
Where to find it: Asian grocers, typically sold fresh, whole or by the slice. It’s becoming more common so some mainstream grocery stores stock it. I saw sliced fresh jackfruit on sale last week at a Lucky grocery store in Sunnyvale, CA.
3. Dragon Fruit (White Pitaya)
Colorful red and green cactus fruit with white flesh spotted with tiny black seeds, similar in texture to a kiwifruit. While the appearance is dramatic, the flavor was surprisingly subtle. Dragon fruit is native to Mexico but is now grown across Latin America and in Asia.
Small, golf-ball sized red or yellow fruit with hard skin and tart, jucy seeds that you can scoop out with a spoon. Passion fruit is native to South America, but it’s now grown around the world.
