Breakaway Destination Guides (International)

Thailand has exported fresh fruits for many years and both the quantities and varieties are increasing steadily. One of the great things about the endless summer is that fruit is everywhere all year around. A good way of keeping track of time is keeping an eye on which fruits are bursting at the seams on the tables of roadside stalls.

♦ Banana (Gluay) Available all year. There are three main varieties. Gluay Narn wa is small but quite fat. Gluay Khai is also short but thinner. Gluay Hom Is long and has a fragrance.

♦ Young Coconut (Maphrao-on) Available all year. It has tender white flesh and a sweet and scented juice.

♦ Custard Apples (Noi-na) May-August. A pale green fruit with segmented white flesh. The seeds can also be eaten.

♦ Duran April-June. Is very sweet and has a thick yellow flesh in a thorned yellow brown shell. It has a strong pungent odour.

♦ Green Plum Crab Apple (Phutsa) Available all year. Small and green with a plum-like taste.

♦ Guava (Farang)

The Guava is rear or round shaped with a yellow-green skin and pale yellow flesh which contains edible seeds. The Guava is highly scented with an aromatic, sweet-acid taste Here the guava is eaten half ripe with sugar or salt.

♦ Jack fruit (Khanoon) August-September. It has a thick soft skin with large seeds and is yellow-brown in colour. It is sweet. The peanut tasting seed can be boiled.

♦ Langsart August-October.

It has a sweet and sour taste. Its seeds should not be eaten.

♦ Longan (Lamyai) July-August.

Is very sweet and juicy with translucent white flesh in a small brown pod. Its seeds should not be eaten.

♦ Lichee (Linchi) April-May. It has a white and sweet tasting flesh in a small red pod.

♦ Mango Best season January to March. There are many varieties of mango. A fragrant fruit with yellow-green to dark crimson skin. The flesh is yellow with a distinctive flavour similar to apricot and pineapple. They can be eaten unripe or ripe. Often served with sweet glutinous rice.

♦ Mangsteen August-October It has segmented, juicy white flesh.

♦ Orange (Som)

Available all year. Generally sweet but some can be a little sour.

♦ Papaya (Malagaw)

Papayas grow year round but are especially tasty after the advent of the hot season. When ripe, the pinkish-orange flesh has a sweet and fragrant taste. The flavour is similar to peaches and apricots. When green the flesh is light green in colour and is used in Thai salads.

♦ Pineapple (Saparot)

April-July. It's pineapples are sweet with little of the sharp acidity found in pineapples from other realms. Thai's eat it sliced and garnished with salt and ground chillies which, odd as it sounds enhances its natural sweetness.

♦ Pomelo (Som-o)

October to December. Like a grape fruit with white, pinkish or yellow flesh.

♦ Rambutan (Ngor) July-September. In a green and red pod. It has sweet transparent flesh.

♦ Roseapple (Chom-poo) April-July. The white and the green are very sweet, the pink is sweet and sour and the very deep red is quite sour. The red and white are both.

♦ Sapodillo (Lamood)

March-July. A surprisingly sweet, soft pulp fruit eaten peeled or halved and is sampled with a spoon. Is brown in colour. Beware of the big black seeds.

♦ Strawberries Jan-Feb. This is an immigrant that has taken well to the cool climate of Thailand's northern hills. Smaller and tartar than temperate varieties.

♦ Watermelon (Daeng Mo) Available all year. It has a sweet taste and is very juicy.

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