jeju-do”grenade fruit” or sugar apple
jeju island in south korea is a sub-tropical island that is really popular with tourists and honeymooners. the island has been isolated for a long time in korean history, and the people who are native to the island have many distinct customs and a dialect that most koreans can’t understand very well.
the place is famous for sea food, and especially sea urchins, as are the women, called “he-nyo” (해녀, 海女), divers who descend to the depths for minutes at a time to collect these yummies, all without any underwater breathing devices. it is said that all divers in jeju are women, as the men do not dive because of taxation on men’s labor (i suspect they might be just at home relaxing and made that part up).
according to the go world website, this might be the only place in “confucius asia” where a birth of a girl is more celebrated than the birth of a boy, since a boy will grow up to be a freeloading no-gooder, whereas a the daughter will grow up to be a he-nyo who brings in the bounty from the sea.
another interesting thing about this southernmost part of korea is that mainland does not really govern the island, instead, there is a provincial government of jeju to handle their own affairs.
from this interesting island comes a pretty weird fruit, called “sugar apple” which looks sorta like a grenade. most koreans are fascinated by this, as no such fruit exists on the mainland. it is said to be very sweet and has a tropical fruit flavor. no one’s quite sure where this fruit originated, but it is now mainly found in south america.
has anyone eaten one of these? i’d love to know what you think of the fruit’s taste!
find out all about sweet apple here
May 15th, 2007 at 6:33 pm
I’ve had the sugar apple or custard apple. They’re delicious and refreshing. if you can ever get your hand on one try it. eat them cold, it enhances the flavor. the texture is sort of like a cross between a banana and very soft pinapple without the harsh fibers. The taste is sort of the same mangoish bananaish and just sweet. YUM! But becareful as there’s another fruit that looks like t but much larger and instead of the small rounder textures on the skin its a bit spikier and tangy in taste.
May 19th, 2007 at 5:47 pm
Hi
these fruits are called Custard Apple
and very very common in India and other tropical countries
btw ur blog is very similar to mine… but ur more descriptive!!
great blog buddy
May 22nd, 2007 at 12:11 am
Thank you Aditya. I’ll be sure to check out your blog.