Best Fruit Poll.

Very hard to only pick one tbh

Very annoyed at Joanna Newsom for not alphabetising Peach, Plum, Pear

oh strayapaws

Picking 🍒 to win by a landslide

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/E1XvxjrVcAAq-Kt?format=jpg&name=900x900

The two best fruits (durian and mangosteen) are both not here.

cherry is probably my choice but there are a lot of disappointing cherries out there

on the other hand chilli is probably the correct answer but it feels like a cheat

Tomato, most versatile

Really considered not putting tomato on but figured it'd be a whole thing if I didn't

Having tomato and chilli on here is cheeky! And you didnt include capsicums in that case :P

I am not a person who makes multiple accounts to vote in polls. Unimaginable behavior to me until I reflect on how watermelon, the king of fruits, the food given to us by God for the purposes of knowing total sensory pleasure, is going to lose. I love all fruits and would make a case for the following if the king of fruits weren't in the room being the king, the eternal king, the unvanquishable king, watermelon, I will love you forever, I seek to spread the good news of your reign wherever I go, perfect by yourself and incredible in salads, so much more than most people know, watermelon, watermelon forever, ok I got distracted, here's my contenders list:

mango
strawberry
apple
peach
blueberry
grape

of these apple has everything else beat for diversity both of variety and uses; strawberries and blueberries are miracled; I ordered the pakistani mangoes from this article last year (went in on an order with a friend) and to be very real, they were the most delicious fruit I've ever tasted in my life, but they also don't keep, whereas I can leave a watermelon on the vine for a good while until I'm ready to eat it; peaches are similar, many people have had good peaches but the actual short-season Georgia ones, you will never ever forget even having smelled one, they are heavenly. still have I mentioned I like watermelons.

I'm also very fond of dates but to me they are kind of their own whole class of food.

voted for the fruit i'd most like to consume right now
blueberry

Dates feel like protein more than fruit would be a fair argument imo

if you get really into them the different flavors of medjool and deglet noor and other less seen ones can be really cool. (I have two with breakfast every morning, I buy big boxes from the middle eastern market up the street.)

workhorse fruits, humble children of the soil: apple, chili pepper, lemon, lime, pear, tomato; avocado belongs here too despite its current surplus of signification

definitively fruity fruits I am always happy to see: blackberry, blueberry, grape, peach, plum, raspberry, strawberry (a top-tier strawberry is truly amazing tho), watermelon

alright, but not going out of my way: cranberry, kiwi, orange, pineapple (on another level when grilled tbh), starfruit

fruits I like but am indefensibly lazy about dealing with, can be sublime if someone else does the work: nectarine, mandarin, pomegranate

genuinely not into: apricot, grapefruit

can be great but disappoint too often: banana, honeymelon, mango (could be the correct answer if I lived elsewhere), rockmelon (both melons are here b/c my parents forced me to eat middling fruit salads growing up)

big fan but these feel distinct and not-as-fruit-like: coconut, date

I kind of forget the differences between these because I am north american: guava, papaya, passionfruit

haven't eaten enough to have an opinion: lychee, mulberry (never), pawpaw (never)

the correct answer: cherry

I didn't want any overlap, but "makes a transcendent pie and/or jam" is another useful category imho

also on second thought I wonder if plum should be in the "disappoints too often" category

Guava, papaya, and passionfruit grow here in North America, though.

Also, mango has a nasty manky taste to me.

xp ah that's true! at any rate, personal life experience & cultural background means I haven't eaten them much

mangos tasted like gasoline to me until I ate some in India

Anything but banana and watermelon.

poll is a lot harder without tomato. runner up would be apple I guess, because of baked goods with apple in them

yeah the Indian & Pakistani mangoes are one of the most pronounced "you haven't really tasted one until you've tasted these" things. chaunsa and anwar ratol are the types to try

I think a good banana wins this, but rob is right: too often disappointing. Something between: apple, orange or cherry. Not voting tomato or date on principle.

is anybody besides me a little angry all the time that we only get to eat the cavendish

camaraderie otm

https://www.friedas.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/Friedas_Mangosteen.jpg

Voting lychee but I enjoy it most as an ingredient or flavor e.g., in ice cream

voting for the one I can't live without, which is lime

I'm not that big on fruit (unless you count wine). I mean fruit's OK, but it doesn't play a large part in my diet compared to vegetables, grains, legumes, dairy or meat. I voted for the dark horse in this race: tomato.

Top favorites: Mirabelle plums, Sauerish apples that have been out in the cold, Strawberries

Exotic: Persimmon, Papaya, Mangoes, avocado, dates

In pies / dessert: Apricot, Blueberry, Cherries, Currants, Rhubarb

Seasonal: Melon, Clementines

One last word for homemade lemonade

wait, my actual write in answer is cold tangerines

o I see mandarin, I guess that counts

Does sleeve live at sea y/n

sadly not

this list is totally incomplete without durian

wow i'm kinda shocked that my honest answer is banana. i used to hate bananas until i started getting the organic ones. now i eat multiple bananas every day and never get sick of them.

a banana in a smoothie is essential imho. it's a killer flavor in all kinds of contexts. it's extremely easy and pleasing to eat. sold almost everywhere. can't stress enough how crucial it is to get organic ones though. whatever treatment they apply to the regular ones turns them completely evil.

I swear we've already had a fruit poll but I can't find it so maybe it doesn't exist after all.

Unanswerable. I've pondered the mysteries of at least 20 of these in regard to drink making, including the ones I'm allergic to. My personal favorites are prob coconut and passionfruit, but lime and watermelon are what I've worked with most. JCLC, come to my town sometime and I will make you several watermelon drinks, boozy or NA as you prefer.

There’s honestly too much to love here. My favourite sub-category of fruits is “fruits you have to fiddle with a little bit”; Lychees get a big shout out in that regard. Great fruit for fidget-enthusiasts

Other great category is “fruits that transport you back to your childhood”. Big shout out to the council mulberry tree out the back of my childhood home. You made spring a real event

nectarine for nostalgia reasons. my Nan used to grow them - i recently found a variety that tasted just like hers & it sent me to the moon with joy it was so good

plus they used to be my favorite stewed fruit hands down

xxp
FRUITS OF SUMMER

Strawberries the most overrated fruit. It’s not that they’re bad, but compared to all the other berries? They’ve got nothing going for them besides the previously mentioned ‘fidget factor’

i think one mitigating factor for many of these is like supermarket vs. fresh from the garden. afaict supermarket strawberries are barely edible. fresh from the garden they're fuckin unreal imo. tomatoes the same though it's easier to get decent tomatoes from the supermarket than it used to be.

nah, a sublime strawb is as good as fruit gets imho

xpost

This is true. I do remember strawberries tasting far better than they currently do. Even the best strawberry doesn’t top that charts, but I’ll take back my “worst of the berries” claim

I always want Star fruit to be better than it is. It’s a beautiful looking fruit.

not much of a fan of grapes in general, but i have always LOVED Concord Grapes

i have tasted dragonfruit but have no recollection of taste

it seems like there's (at least) two kinds of persimmons - one can be tasty, the other is garbage but attractive on the tree

Nectarines. I love most of the fruits in that list but good nectarines are on another level.
Raspberries possibly the best flavour but can be dry when fresh.

I feel like plums should be amazing but I've never had one that isn't disappointing on some level.
Shout out to lemon for being one of the best flavours of things, and also pears which can be perfect in desserts.
I would love to be 6 again and taste guava juice in South Africa for the first time. Just one of those flavours I don't want to 'wear out' the Proustian rush.

I have that with papaya eaten in Florida as a kid (see also: the fresh fruit offer at Disney World hotel breakfast buffets).

I had a truly incredible pluot last night

the only plum i've ever had that i loved were these tiny golden plums from a tree in a yard where i lived once. beautiful flowers in the spring too.

a few decades ago I had some fried plantains at a Caribbean restaurant and was like, wow, this is truly amazing and deliciously nutritious food and not at all yucky slop like most fruit is. Never had fried plantains since, this is something I need to try again.

oh yes they are perfect for breakfast with eggs, fried in coconut oil

not at all yucky slop like most fruit is

'yucky slop'?? where are you getting your fruit?

I posted a photo upthread!

Shit! Missed it. I was lucky to grow up in an area full of wild berries—thimbles, wild strawberries, the teensy tiny bright blueberries that bears go nuts for, etc.

Feijoa (the people's fruit)
Tamarillo (thanks for repping, just1n3 <3)
Boysenberry

Used to eat a lot of cape gooseberries and banana passionfruit as a kid but it's a little harder (former isn't commercially grown here and I haven't had a proper garden in ages, latter is now classified as an invasive species)

Need to hunt around for pepinos, naranjillos and cherimoya a bit more.

Intrigued by JCLC's importing-Pakistani-mangoes-to-the-US story - never seen them in NZ; are they available in the UK/Europe?

They are - whether Buddhist, Hindu, Muslim or Sikh, all the big South Asian neighbourhoods in London (and any other areas known for huge SA communities) get loads of them and there’s an associated seasonal frenzy where families buy them by the boxful.

Fried plantains are ubiquitous in NYC and I find them delicious but unfortunately difficult to digest, to the point they’re an automatic no. Other people apparently don’t have this problem.

Looks like getting mangoes past NZ biosecurity etc is a pain:

https://thespinoff.co.nz/kai/04-01-2024/when-it-comes-to-mangoes-new-zealanders-arent-getting-the-good-stuff-2

My friends’ parents used to bring crates of mangoes back from visits to Pakistan, they were amazing. Presumably bio security was less of a thing in the late 80s.

Xps the best strawberries I’ve had in recently memory were in Finland. Cheap, too.

Xp to etc: I can never eat feijoas or kiwi fruit again because we gorged on them as kids.

milo, I agree with you about honeycrisp apples, those are the ones I always go for if I'm not in the mood for baking with or eating Granny Smiths

kinder, I loved plums as a kid, they were just sweet and juicy enough to be satisfying without being over the top, but for years now when I buy them in grocery stores they mostly seem dry and tasteless, same goes for apricots. My best friend loves apricots above all, but they aren't good any more, I think they are best when baked in galettes or tarts

the only good plum is one plucked straight from the tree... Santa Rosa is the best varietal imho

California is avocado heaven. I had trouble getting used to them since I never had them as a kid - like with cilantro I originally thought they tasted soapy - but now I eat them in salsa, as guacamole, as avocado on toast (which requires other ingredients like hard boiled eggs, roasted tomatoes, onions, herbs, bacon, salmon, or goat cheese to be really great), cut up into a salad (which is my usual way to eat them now), or halved with soy sauce sprinkled over them, or just digging into them with a spoon

I had a truly incredible pluot last night

10-12 years ago our Whole Foods got the most incredible pluots - multiple colors, varieties, and flavors - the green ones were especially zesty. They have been slowly disappearing in the years since the Amazon acquisition.

halved with soy sauce sprinkled over them

now we're talking

'yucky slop'?? where are you getting your fruit?

― Andy the Grasshopper, Wednesday, October 2, 2024 2:40 PM (five hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

Real England

fuzzy mouth

this is such a real challenge when it comes to so many great fruits :/

this is an incredibly informative thread.

this is so false! ever been to the farmer's market in any Bavarian town? ever hear of a Bergman movie, wild something, can't quite place it? berries in Europe have an intensity only rivaled in the PNW

― J Edgar Noothgrush (Joan Crawford Loves Chachi), Wednesday, 2 October 2024 bookmarkflaglink

Do people have berries on their own? I like 'em but I can only have bluebberies with porridge. Strawberries do go with cream.

Papaya can go on its own. This is a kind of fruit rockism but I value fruits that can just be tasted on their own. That are enough.

Scottish raspberries are absolutely amazing. Not all fruits need blazing sunshine.

I was just in Italy and the average fruit served for breakfast in a hotel was definitely superior to the average fruit I buy in a supermarket in the US.

I go through at least two pineapples weekly, so they're the clear winner.

Also, in reference to this, I had been cutting up pineapples solely with a knife for years, which was a little tiresome and frustrating and limited my pineapple intake. But earlier this year, I discovered the most glorious kitchen tool - the pineapple corer! Now, pineapples are ready for consumption in a matter of seconds and nothing can stop me.

https://cdnimg.webstaurantstore.com/images/products/large/622312/2271314.jpg

that is very cool

do you have a good deal if i purchase in the next 30 minutes

jeez, get a diamond edge knife sharpener instead!

I've already got core hole bits for my pistol drill, but don't need that shit in the kitchen

Sadly a tad allergic to pineapple :-(

oh so you don't like pizza then

Sadly a tad allergic to pineapple :-(

My boss said his teenage daughter at a pineapple core and got crazy hives... I guess the core is somewhat toxic?

Lol Calzino.

Never looked into it. Just get a weird reaction in my skin.

Digging the new Trader Joe's Soft Dried Apricots... grown in Uzbekistan!

i quite like dried apricots.. i get "dried turkish apricots" from sprouts from time to time.

lol eating two pineapples a week is insanity

not if you want to be very welcoming to everybody

The pear I ate earlier today was really good, gonna vote for that. The fruit I actually eat the most of is banana, it's cheap, portable and non-messy.

I once ate an entire pineapple by myself because it was so good and the stomach pain will never be forgotten. I still love pineapple but try to limit my access — they make me crazy and I eat too much.

im trying not to spoil any of this but with the plotlines and the hitrate so far im very surprised how many of the cast i see credited with 40+ episodes tbh

pineapple has the powerful digestive enzyme bromelain, which can cause nausea and diarrhea when eaten in excess

bromelain more like bro m layin down

:) I do love pineapple

uh

my post was for the yellowstone thread ffs

will and grace

there's a joke here somewhere

i also ate at least one if not two pounds of grapes by myself
do NOT recommend

it felt like my body was trying to dissolve itself

I grew up with muskmelons. My father spread plastic over the soil in our garden surrounding them like he did with our pumpkins so when they fruited they would be protected and their roots/stems would hold the heat in and thrive in our autumn upstate NY weather.

They were so juicy and awesome. From what I’ve read they are almost synonymous with cantaloupe but I've never had a cantaloupe from a grocery store that approximated them

That sounds so good.

I have some gross fruit stories from working in a produce department as a kid. It's amazing I still eat the stuff.