What's a good snack?

Do they grow well indoors during the winter months too?

Deviled eggs?

It is unlikely that most people will ever taste an optimum malacca, so it would be unusual to find someone else who thinks it is the best fruit.

They are shaped a bit like a pear with an even thinner skin than a pear.

Inside is a pure white fruit and a spherical pit about an inch in diameter.

The fruit texture is softer than a pear when ripe and non-fiberous.

The skin goes from orange when not ripe to a deep red or purple when ripe.

They have to ripen on the tree or the flavor is not exciting.

They can go from being unripe, orange and bitter to being over-ripe and deep purple in about 4 hours.

When they are over-ripe they will upset your stomach and act as a super cramping laxative.

You are really rolling the dice if you want to wait for the perfect ripeness.

They are jucier and sweeter than apples or pears and one of the easiest fruits to eat.

The  skin doesn't detract from the flavor or texture (some people peal apples and pears - not needed here)

There is no unpleasant aftertaste, and no acidic or astringency aspect of the juice.

They have a beautiful flavor that is hard to describe because it isn't like anything else.

I grew up in a jungle rainforest with an incredible variety of spectacular fruit.

This is the only fruit I have come across that I could find no fault with the fruit.

To get a good malacca, you pretty much have to camp out at a tree and wait for your particular malacca to just start turning purple, then somehow pick it from a giant tree, before the birds get to it, and eat it right away.

We had a big mango tree in our yard in which we built seven tree forts. (Also a pretty good fruit) The tree was so big and bushy, none of the forts could be seen from the ground. Malacca trees could be even bigger, so most of the fruit was inaccessible.

A good tree climber dedicated to picking the perfect malacca might get half a dozen perfect malaccas in a season. These are never going to make it to market. The fruit that does make it to market is no better than any other fruit, but you could get a hint of the flavor.

Somebody needs to develop a method of getting these fruit to market in a way that preserves the flavor. It would be worth paying a premium.

> malacca apples

I don't think I've tried these... what're they like?

> Is it delicious, is it good for you, is it a good buy.

Yes.

Surely there's a snack that satisfies all three of those things?

A slightly salted boiled egg is an under-rated snack.

I don't actually buy snacks, but will eat them if they are on offer.

nuts - chocolate covered almonds

fruit - malacca apples

pastry - changes daily

cheeze - cheezies

seafood - shrimp

eggs - deviled eggs

dairy - icecream

#1 choice is icecream - it has a long history and it continues to get better.

I would buy icecream if "somebody" didn't buy it for me.

As long as it's savoury and vegan then I'm in. Keep going back to homemade roasted tamari soaked almonds though! Mmmmmmmmm, salty umami goodness!

Cashew trees are like pear trees (each cashew grows out of the bottom of a cashew pear). Each nut should cost the same a single pear. Pears may be more expensive to transport, but cashew nuts require more processing. I always wondered why there aren't a lot of products made with cashew fruit - it is quite edible, although astringent.

It all depends upon what you mean by good!

Is it delicious, is it good for you, is it a good buy.

You really need to specify which issue you want to discuss, because there are different answers to each qualifier.

I usually treat myself to a bag of Ruffles with onion dip at this time of year.

DAB