Jerusalem's huge outdoor fruit and vegetable market put on her pre-holiday finery today.
Jewish shoppers are ready to pay extra for fancy fruit for Rosh Hashana, the new year (beginning this Friday evening).
It is not everyday you see carambola and pineapples in Jerusalem.And I have NEVER seen that exotic-looking red and green fruit. From the sign in Hebrew I figured out it was called pitaya.
Google led me to this little picture of the inside of a pitaya, also called dragon fruit. I also learned now that pineapples, carambola, and pitaya are grown in Israel, although in limited scope.
Oh, and now I remember seeing and eating slices of pitaya in a salad. It was on a London-to-Sydney flight, after the jet landed in Bangkok to refuel and load airplane food meals. Thailand is (another) one of the places where the pitaya cactus grows.
I prefer the flavour of the carabola but they all are stunning cretures to picture.
ReplyDeleteDina, we know carabola as carambola (star-fruit) because, when it is cut, the slices are in the shape of star.
ReplyDeleteAbout your question, that Adventure Park is only for children: I was there with many other people just watching and taking photos!
Spacedlaw, you're right, stunning enough to put my baskets down and pull out the camera today.
ReplyDeletePietro, oi, yes, now I see the Hebrew has an m, so I corrected it to carambola. Thanks.
i didn't know those fruits are considered exotic in your part of the world, Dina. (We have them all year round.) I used to have the carambola tree (we call it belimbing here) in front of my house. Sadly I had to cut it down to make room for the drive way. (I replaced it with slimmer bamboo though.)
ReplyDeleteThe Hosana will fall near our Id Al Fitr holiday which will be this coming Sunday.
Happy New Year, and may peace be upon us all.
I'm trying to grow a dragon fruit, here in California. We'll see if it works for not.
ReplyDeleteWhat a lovely post...informative for me regarding the pitaya.
ReplyDeleteI love your photo...so vibrant and filled with wonderful color blends of the fruit.
Pitaya is beautiful,but tastewise not anything special....
ReplyDeleteDoes it taste like custard? If i didn't like the flavor I'd display them in a glass bowl for their beauty
ReplyDeleteBeautiful colors. Pitaya is new to me too...thanks for the education!
ReplyDeleteI am growing a paw paw tree which is supposed to be next to divine food but only to those who like its pungent smells and rich flavor not unlike overripe bananas.
ReplyDeleteI liked your post yesterday too.
I'm disappointed to read the comments that say the taste does not match the beauty.
ReplyDeleteHappy Rosh Hashana!
Dragon fruit and pineapple!
ReplyDeleteLooks like Honolulu....
A very happy and safe new year to YOU, Dina!
Aloha
Comfort Spiral
I have never seen pitaya before either. Happy Rosh Hashana!
ReplyDeleteDina, friday will be the "Quds Day" too. Protesters in Iran are planning to use the Quds day to demonstrate against the government as the spirit of the Quds day is not only limited to Palestine/Israel but wherever in the world that people are oppressed. I hope things will not get violent both in Tehran and in Jerusalem.
I wonder what dragon fruit tastes like. I've seen it at the market but I've never tried it.
ReplyDeleteI have never tried those fruits. do you? if you taste them tell us about
ReplyDeleteYes it was in Thailand that I ate this fruit. I think its very photogenic and tastes good
ReplyDeleteDelicious photo of an unusual fruit!
ReplyDeleteDina, Happy feast of St. Albert of Jerusalem. This is a big day for us Carmelites as St. Albert was the writer of our Holy Rule.
ReplyDeleteI've never seen the red ones either. They look fantastic!
ReplyDelete