interesting fruit...

i just wanted to share this fruit that i bought at russo's market (a place that is like heaven!) about 2 weeks ago. it's called monstera deliciosa.


i bought it because the tag at the market said it tasted like a combination of banana, pineapple and mango. well, i like all those things! however, it didn't say how long it would take to ripen, or anything like that--just something like "eat when the green tiles come off easily with a fork." what it didn't say is that it is one of 2 natural sources of oxalic acid, which is very poisonous to you, and you should only eat it if it's very ripe. so after a couple of days, lee and i were able to pull off a couple of the tiles and ate some of this weird plant. it immediately made my mouth itch and burn, and the back of my throat swelled a bit. no serious problems, but i looked it up right away and wikipedia told me this vital information. lee also had a reaction, though not as severe as me. i had sores on my tongue for 3 days!

so another site also said to wrap the fruit in plastic wrap to encourage it to ripen faster. i did this and then it was fine. lee and i tried it again a week later with much better results. however, i won't be eating it again. it did in fact taste kind of like banana, pineapple and mango all together, but it was "too much." and the texture was soft like a banana, so it was a little weird. it was very perfumy, which was a turn-off for me. but it was an interesting experience!