The fruits of the India jujube,
looking like small, glossy crabapples, turn from green to yellow, then
to a light reddish-brown as they ripen. Their flesh is then crisp, firm
and juicy. When slightly overripe, they are a darker brown and very
slightly soft. Later, they wrinkle and pucker and the flesh becomes
really soft and somewhat mealy, with a very musky flavor and a strong
cheese-like odor. It is in this latter condition that the fruit is most
prized in Asia
It is in the firm, crisp stage, however,
that the fruit is most appreciated in the western world. The flesh
texture is then much like that of the crabapple and the flavor varies
from pleasantly acid to somewhat sweet. The fruits at this stage are
popular for eating out-of-hand and are delicious stewed with sugar,
though the rather large seeds are somewhat objectionable.
Jujube
butter also is made from the cooked and strained pulp of the ripe
fruits, with sugar, spices, lemon and vinegar added, and the unripe
fruits make an excellent jelly.
Dried jujubes, high in nutritive
value, are used in the Orient in bread and are also made into a
cheese-like paste. In the Bahamas, the fruit is in season in January
and February and baskets of the fruits can occasionally be seen in the
Nassau native market. They change character quickly and, if they are to
be eaten raw, the winter visitor will enjoy them most if they have been
very recently picked from the tree or are at least unwrinkled and crisp.
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