The mango nectarine

I miss California's cornucopia of fruit oh so much.  But this summer the grocery store on my block - which has almost everything except really diverse produce (they haven't had tangelos for months until last week!) - threw in a few sweet gems that I had never heard of before.

The best so far has been the mango nectarine.  These yellow-green fruits first appeared at $6.99/lb, though, so I definitely avoided them.  Until late one night when I came off the 1 still a bit buzzed.  Even the cashier commented on how expensive the fruit was.  I took my conquest - just one! - immediately to my room.  

This was one of the most luscious, delicious fruits that I have ever had.  Calling it "mango" probably accounted for half of the flavors I thought I detected (placebo flavors), but no matter.  The texture was not like a nectarine, but more like a non-stringy Nam Doc mango - with edible flesh!  I actually kept the fruit's sticker - like this one - stuck to the inside of my wallet as some kind of reminder (I forget names really easily).

I've read that mango nectarines bruise easily, don't preserve very long, and only have a short season, all of which probably accounts for their rarity.  And they seem pretty variable (not unlike most other fruits, pitted or otherwise), as a month later the store had them for only $2.99/lb.  I jumped on this and got a few, but they were more bruised, less flavorful, and a bit stringy.  I'm still hooked from the first one I had, though, so next time they arrive, I'll definitely put out three bucks for another amazing yellow-green half pound.