Whenever I go to the pazar in Istanbul, I never know what a new day might yield.
This weekend, we bought half a brown bag of these small, strange, oblong, yellow fruits.
This weekend, we bought half a brown bag of these small, strange, oblong, yellow fruits.
 |
| In Turkey, a bowl of fresh loquats - slightly bruised but still delicious. |
In Turkey, these are called malta eriği aka Maltese plum or a loquat in other parts of the world, and they are one of the newest fruits at the pazar. I’ve never seen these in the U.S. - as they are indigenous to southeastern China - but apparently they are grown in Hawaii and California. Japan is the leading producer of loquats, followed by Israel and Brazil.
(Update May 2014: from our last trip to Istanbul, loquat seems to be a much more common word now.)
(Update May 2014: from our last trip to Istanbul, loquat seems to be a much more common word now.)
Today, I sliced into a couple of them. The malta eriği taste a little like an apple, but sweet and tangy almost like a plum. We also found out they brown quickly like an apple once they are sliced and left out in a bowl, but still tasty.
While they are delicious fresh, I’m just unsure what to do with all of them. Any ideas?
A quick search on the Internet yields several recipes for loquat jams and chutneys. Then, I came across this one in Saveur Magazine for ground lamb meatballs with loquats that sounds interesting and fairly easy. We don’t have a grill so I’ll have to make do with our indoor grill pan.
Until then, we’ll just enjoy eating the malta eriği fresh.
Afiyet olsun!
Love these. They've been out in Fethiye for the last couple of weeks and our fridge is full of them. I put them in my muesli in the mornings. Those lamb meatballs sound interesting. :)
ReplyDeleteMalta Eriği?? is that different from a Yeni Dunya? We have those everywhere down here in southern Turkey and they're great!
ReplyDeleteHi FP, The signs at the pazar here say Malta Eriği, but I understand they are also known as the Yeni Dunya as you mentioned. I'm pretty sure they are the same thing.
ReplyDeleteDef. going to try them with lamb soon! =-)
They are delicious even if they look beat up! The thing is to eat Yeni Dunya Kebabı right now at your favourite kebab place - it's very succulent because of this fruit added to onion and fresh garlic. They prepare it at the table for you ie roll it up in a dürüm with all the juices and give it to you! Very tasty.
ReplyDeleteWith minced lamb!!
ReplyDeleteExcellent idea! I will have to see if our place in Besiktas does this. Thanks Claudia!
ReplyDelete