Feelings may differ about summer’s heat, but one thing we all agree on: we love summer’s fresh, juicy fruit. Did you ever consider the most common adjective that describes fruit? Juicy!
Try to talk about the peaches you picked up from the farmstand without saying, “juicy.” Think oranges, plums, watermelon, and cantaloupe. Just the thought makes you want to reach for a napkin, doesn’t it?
Maybe the second-most-used descriptor is sweet, as in Bing cherries, strawberries, blackberries, blueberries, raspberries, and all the aforementioned juicy fruits.
Let’s not ignore pears, nectarines, honeydews, grapes, or the lemon in our iced tea.
Then there’s the poor banana, often overlooked because it’s faithfully available in every season. And alas, we have the tomato, which we know is a fruit but will forever be thought of as a vegetable.
I saved the peculiar pineapple for last. There is no other fruit like it. It’s prickly and pungent, sweet and acidic, neither an apple nor a pine. Here are some fun facts:
- It grows as a small shrub that produces only one fruit.
- It takes up to three years to grow a pineapple.
- It stops ripening as soon as it’s picked.
- It appears to be one fruit but is actually a cluster of dozens of individual berries that fuse around the core.
- Due to their rarity and expense, pineapples were a status symbol in the 17th and 18th centuries. Wealthy people rented them to carry as a luxury accessory at parties!
Just some things to think about the next time pineapples are on sale for $1.99.
Tell me, what’s your favorite fruit?
BARBARA HIGBY 