I’m Passionate About  . . . Passion Fruit!

By Lorraine Manglos

Have you ever even seen a passion fruit? They really are ugly – a dark purplish color and all wrinkled up. Cut them open and you will see not much inside either. There is a bit of fiber, juice and seeds.  Yep, that’s passion fruit. If you are lucky you will get a couple of tablespoons worth of juice/pulp from one piece of fruit.

When I find my little treasures I immediately have visions of using passion fruit in crème brûlée, Swiss meringue buttercream, candy fillings, Pavlova, and on and on. There is nothing quite like the flavor of passion fruit.  Nothing else comes close. It is exotic, fruity, tropical and always a treat. It blends well with many other flavors and yet, does not lose its uniqueness. You can still taste the distinctive passion fruit flavor.

I come across fresh passion fruit so rarely in Southern California but when I do, oh my! I can’t wait to start cutting them open and scrapping out the seeds and juice. I turn into a miserly, little troll, plotting and planning how I will use my passion fruit pulp, whom shall I share the treats with, and how much fruit to use to get the right balance of flavor, all the while rubbing my hands together (in a troll-like way).

I have thought of growing passion fruit, but then it wouldn’t be so special if it was easy to find. I like the hunt, checking out a farmer’s markets and spotting those ugly little suckers can really make my day. So, for now, I think I will just keep on my passionate quest, for passion fruit