pitaya / pitahaya

[prettygoodword]

pitaya (pi-TAY-uh) or pitahaya (pit-uh-HAY-uh) - n., any of several cacti of the genera Stenocereus and Selenicereus, indigenous the southwestern United States, Mexico, and Central America, bearing edible round or oval fruit usually having bumpy skin and juicy pulp filled with seeds; the fruit of these cacti, also called dragon fruit.



Thanks, WikiMedia!

In Spanish, there's a distinction between pitaya as being Stenocereus, which are more sour, and pitahaya as Selenicereus, which are sweeter -- but this distinction is largely ignored in English. Most the fruit cultivated in many tropical regions and sold as dragon fruit are three species of Selenicereus, distinguished by whether the flesh is white, red, or yellow. All three are delicious. Pitaya is a short form of pitahaya, which English got from Latin American Spanish in the 1750s, from a Taíno language. The name dragon fruit is a calque (literal piece-by-piece translation) from a Southeast Asian language -- compare Chinese 火龙果, huǒlóngguǒ, lit. fiery-dragon-fruit). (We first met it in China -- it was The Kid's favorite food aside from steamed buns.)

---L.

Comments

[full_metal_ox]

And now I know what to ask for at the Latin-operated produce stalls at the neighborhood Farmers Market. The dragonfruit I’ve eaten in Ohio have been underwhelming, with a very faint suspicion of kiwi flavor—leading me to wonder if they weren’t grown chiefly with presentation in mind; they sure look like something that would be presented to Princess Azula on a golden platter with obsequious ceremony.

Those available on the Gulf Coast of Florida, in USDA Zone 10B, should have the advantage of being local, on their home turf, and in season—-and of course they’ve been heavily promoted for the Year of the Dragon.

[prettygoodword]

Heh, on the zodiac connection.

A couple houses in my neighborhood have dragon fruit growing in their yard, including one that droops over the back wall. The flowers are large white trumpets, similar to cereus.

[full_metal_ox]

Utterly unsurprising, given the scientific name. What’s the floral scent like? Fruity? Indolic?

[prettygoodword]

I honestly don't remember. It was faint -- surprisingly, given it's a white night-bloomer.

[lokifan]

The taste is mild but there and gets sweeter as you go in, was my experience when I lived in Vietnam. The dragonfruit here in London is def blander and smaller so I think you're right about local being better!

[prettygoodword]

The ones we had in China were better than any we've met here in supermarkets, which can be rather bland -- only the one time found in a farmer's market has come close.

[full_metal_ox]

Update: having procured a couple local yellow dragonfruit (which seem to predominate here), what I had in Ohio were the faintest of fifth-generation copies. The specimen I ate had the flavor and consistency of pear on the verge of syrupy overripeness, if pear had an almost overbearing floral sweetness and a scattering of crunchy kiwilike seeds.

[prettygoodword]

That's about right. Good one.