As a daily driver, apple.

It's a shame that when a good pear reaches peak ripeness you can bruise it just by looking at it. I know genetically-modified foods are problematic, but goddamn -- if you're going to play with nature, could you make me a delicious pear with resilient skin and a ripeness window longer than 9 minutes?

Will tell you another thing that's nice on the fruit front--one of these:



That's ^^^ from over ten years ago.

I rarely ever take pictures of food, especially these days, but this is/was sort of the Wiggan Buddy of the fruit/boulangerie world, and I had to document it.

The single-serving versions are just as good.

An intermediate-level cook could easily make their own.

The pear. There is nothing in the world like a ripe Bosc. Not as ripe? Get a grill mark on it and put some balsamic reduction and blue cheese on it. You can even chop that all together and toss with greens and walnuts for a salad.

Runner up: the plum, wrongly absent.

My go-to’s are Macintosh apples and clementines. The occasional banana. But these are routine, and have nothing on the royal Pear.

Based on averages, the banana wins. You can judge its quality by appearance, for one: a green banana peel means the fruit isn’t ready to eat, a brown banana peel means the fruit will be sickly sweet and mushy, and bruises on the peel mean bruises on the fruit. Frozen banana run through a juicer or food processor tastes like frozen whipped cream. And those sickly sweet brown bananas still can be frozen and used in smoothies.

However, a banana never tastes better than pretty good.

Based on peaks and not averages, oranges, grapefruit, blueberries, and strawberries all have a claim for the title of best fruit. Kiwi and pineapple are up there.

Agree that dried mango rules.

It’s possible—possible!—that peach cobbler and peach pie are the best uses of whole fruit in a dessert.

Not a huge fan of cherries. As for plums, get the fuck out of here with that nonsense. Gross.

Biscuitdough, I didn’t see your post before I criticized plums.

But I don’t take it back! Never!

Two top candidates for me:

Apple - great to eat as a meal and also really cheap and easy to make good booze of it (sorry, grape, your booze often gives me a headache)

Lime - essential ingredient for good sodas, cocktails, and pie

Apple has gotten its fair share of votes so far, but lime isn't included as an option (I understand... hard to limit choices to 10), so I have voted "Other"

To drink: lychee
To eat by itself: frozen blueberries
On pancakes: bananas
On chocolate cake, with chocolate frosting and vanilla ice cream: blueberries

To drink: lychee
To eat by itself: frozen blueberries
On pancakes: bananas
As pie: key lime
On chocolate cake, with chocolate frosting and vanilla ice cream: blueberries

PASTA wrote: Mon Apr 04, 2022 3:27 pm All depends on your location and the season

Correct answer!
In Oregon:
Spring-Summer:
- Strawberries
- Sour Cherries
- Tayberries

Summer:
- Blackberries
- Peaches
- Balaton cherries
- Golden plums

Summer-Fall:
- Italian plums
- Pears: Cascade, Forelle, Comice
- Apples: Red-fleshed, Brandywine
- non-table grapes for sorbet and jam

Fall-Winter:
- tons more pears and apples, cheaper as they sit in cold storage
- cheap Pomegranates
- jackfruit

Winter-Spring:
- Mandarins/Cuties
- Golden mangoes
- Mangosteens
- Pineapple

I voted for pears. When they're at their peak and you get a good cultivar, the aroma, sweetness and texture are just perfect. They can be used for anything an apple might be, and that aroma and flavor is more delicate and floral than apple.

Grapefruit.

I’m a masochist.