TROPICAL FRUIT SALAD

Tropical fruits are picked under-ripe, then ripened when they reach this country, so will rarely taste as good as when eaten in their native habitat.  However a good way to check on flavour is to smell the fruit.  If it has a sweet, scented aroma it will taste good, if it has no scent it is likely to have no flavour either!  This is particularly true of melons, mangoes and pineapples.

MANGO

Flesh should give a little when pressed gently.  Cut lengthways through the fruit on each side of the fibrous stone in the centre.  Peel away the skin and cut the flesh into small chunks.  Cut any remaining flesh away from around the stone.

KIWI FRUIT

Trim off both ends with a small sharp knife then peel away the thin rough brown skin.  Slice or cut into chunks - the green flesh and black edible seeds make it an attractive fruit for all sorts of desserts.

MELON

Press one end to check for ripeness - it should give a little.  Cut melon in half through the centre and discard seeds.  A melon baller makes this fruit look special - push the ball into the flesh, rounded side up and twist.  Alternatively you can cut the flesh into small chunks.

PINEAPPLE

Hold the crown of leaves in one hand and with a sharp knife shave off the thin skin so only the eyes remain.  Hold the fruit at an angle and following a line of eyes, make cuts on either side in a spiral from the base then life out a strip.  Slice the flesh or cut into chunks, removing the tough centre core.

CAPE GOOSEBERRY

A golden cherry-sized fruit with no stone, enclosed in a papery covering resembling a Chinese lantern.  Peel the covering back to eat the fruit.

STAR FRUIT

Bright yellow with waxy skin and crunchy, slightly tart flesh.  When cut crosswise it gives star shaped slices.

PAW PAW

If ripe the flesh should give a little when pressed.  Cut in half lengthways and discard the shiny black seeds.  Peel, then cut the flesh into chunks.

LYCHEE

Peel away the hard, brittle skin using a small sharp knife.  Cut fruit in half and remove the stone or serve whole and leave guests to do it themselves.


Fruit Salad (Allow about 8 oz unprepared fruit per person)
Rather than a syrup,  use the juice of a lemon and a teaspoon of Cointreau to pour over the fruit.

Although the above is a tropical fruit salad,  you can still use the more usual fruits such as apple, pear, grapes - halved and deseeded or buy seedless, bananas, strawberries, raspberries etc.