A Taste For The Tropics

A slice of kiwi on a hot summer day feels like a trip to breezy New Zealand. A mango in the cold of winter can transport you straight to a Caribbean beach. Imagine where these south-of-the-equator taste sensations can take your palate at mealtime.

If you haven't already made tropical fruit a part of your home canning plans, you're in for a treat. Stirred into ham, chopped into chutneys, mixed into fruit salad or sliced into salsas, tropical fruits add exotic, refreshing notes that make the homemade extraordinary.

Going tropical has never been easier. Once available only in out-of-the-way specialty shops, tropical fruits have taken their place right next to all-American favorites. Mangoes alongside apples. Papayas next to pears. Star fruit marketed with bananas. Methods for harvesting, cooling and transporting delicate new flavors keep improving, bringing fresh new fare halfway around the world to your local grocery.

The tropical effect is pure magic when you pair exotic fruits with home grown from your garden or local farm market. Strawberry jam is just strawberry jam until you add an accent of diced, fresh kiwi. Canned fruit cocktail is just fruit cocktail until you mix in fresh papaya and passion fruit before serving. Try adding some of these tropical treasures when it's time to put up the summer harvest:

• Kiwi : Its fresh, juicy flavor makes kiwi a great stand-alone in jam. Combined with strawberries and crystallized ginger, it's "other worldly."
  
• Mango : The sweet undertones and soft texture can go sweet or savory. Whether you chop it into salsa with onions and garlic, or preserve it in a festive fruit salad, use Fruit-Fresh® to preserve the sunny orange color.
  
• Pineapple: The combination of sweet-and-tart adds interest to everything from peach jam to fruit compote. Its sweetness is especially useful in low- or no-sugar recipes.
  
• Papaya : Mellow, melon-like flavor and texture are excellent paired with acid or richly flavored fruits such as strawberry, lime or peaches. It's a standout in a mixed fruit medley.
  
• Passion Fruit: A little goes a long way with the pulp of this mouth-watering tropical. Add the pulp of two passion fruits to your own plum preserves for a heavenly surprise on your morning muffins.

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