#138 Acquiring certain tastes

Dec 15, 2024

Hello friend,

Living in Sicily for a long time has led me to acquire different tastes. For example, some food that I never used to like has been given new opportunities thanks to different varieties or new ways of preparing it.

Sometimes, acquiring an appreciation of different foods is about giving the food second, third or endless chances by tasting it every year when it is in season.

I never used to eat cauliflower of any type in Australia because I was not fond of its smell. Still, since living in Sicily, I have discovered a new variety called the violetta, a purple colour cauliflower, which I tentatively tried.

I had a taste, and because it was a new variety, it also had a completely different flavour, and I liked it.

Then, after a few years of eating the violet version of the cauliflower, I slowly got used to the taste of regular cauliflower, so now I have been converted.

Another fruit I dislike is persimmon or khaki. My Sicilian grandparents and my mother used to devour these winter fruits with great relish, but I was really put off by the texture every time I tasted them.

The hard fruit of the traditional variety has to become soft and mushy before being edible. It is sweet, but the mucusy texture really puts me off.

There are plenty of new varieties these days, like the kaki apple, which has the consistency of a crunchy apple.

But there is a new way I have discovered to prepare the old-fashioned persimmon. For a few years now, I have always prepared a batch with grappa.

Basically, you place a few still-hard persimmons inside a sealed container or pot, along with a small glass or coffee cup and some grappa.

You put a lid on and seal the kakis with the grappa, and the alcohol ripens the fruits without making them soft. This usually takes a few days to a week, and the grappa infuses the fruits with a hint of grappa flavour.

Don't worry these drunk kaki's won't inebriate you but they will give you an alternative to snotty soft persimmons if you are like me.

A third seasonal fruit I have acquired a taste for thanks to years, perhaps even decades, of trying and retesting is prickly pears. I'm happy to say that after quite some persistence, I do enjoy eating them.

The oval-shaped prickly pear has a hard skin filled with delicate spikes like needle tips. It is difficult to imagine how someone discovered the edible nature of this intimidating delicacy.

Many people take advantage of this no doubt painfully acquired discovery to enjoy the treat. Some make a kind of marmalade from this exotic fruit, which is often crushed, deseeded, and strained, then left to dry out in the sun to become a chewy type of candy, an ancient staple to be consumed in the winter.

Known also as the Barbary fig (opuntia ficus-indica), the Fico d’india is a species of cactus cultivated worldwide in arid and semiarid areas and is considered native to Mexico.

Sicilians love this traditionally exotic fruit served fresh after being cooled in the refrigerator.

As for their taste, tiny hard pips dominate the first bite, but the soft flesh around them is quite refreshing and sweet, like a watermelon. There are many varieties. The red ones are the most vibrant, but there are also orange, green, and so-called ‘white’ ones, which are golden in colour.

The love of this fruit has seen the fico d’india turned into ice cream, sorbet and even liquor, so it is pretty versatile. The taste is pleasant, but it would be ideal if someone could take out the pips, yet Sicilians don’t seem bothered swallowing them without a second thought.

I also let the coarse little seeds slide down my throat as I eat the fruit. It's like swallowing the pips when you have a watermelon; if you leave them with the rest of the fruit, they don't bother you.

I guess you need some practice. You always need to learn how to digest unpleasant things in life, so take the overly seed-filled fico India as a metaphor and swallow the uncomfortable part of the fruit while still appreciating the sweet and good parts.

Also, eating too many of them has a sneaky habit of making people painfully constipated. But this is a story and metaphor for another time.

Have you ever tried a fico d’india?

What’s one of your newly acquired or appreciated tastes?

Well that’s all from me for now.

Thanks for letting me share a little bit of my life with you.

I hope you are savouring the festive season.

Take care of yourself

Regards from

Rochelle

Sometimes, I talk about Sicily.

Other times, I talk about whatever is on my mind.

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