Everyone went for the reds. “There are more around the corner,“ the caretaker said, “but they’re pale.” No one paid him any mind.
The same man handed me a heavy plastic bag as we were about to leave. It was filled with the palest tambis (water apples) I had ever seen. “Are these even ripe?” I asked. “Any riper and they’d be falling off the tree,” he replied.
Unconvinced, I bit into one. Then I called my companions over. “You’ve got to try this.” I was almost sorry I did, because not a day went by that next week that they weren’t bugging me about going back to the farm for more, those albinos were that good.
Definitely better than their more sanguine relatives, in fact, with none of the apud (astringent) mouthfeel. As per Wikipedia, this particular variety is called “pearl,” and they are as expensive (if not more) than the deep red (also known as “black pearl”). We finally made it back to the farm that next weekend, but too late. “How about some red?” the caretaker offered. “You were crazy for it the last time.” We didn’t bother.
Well, it’s been a month since then and those tambis are back. If you chance upon them at the market or in someone’s backyard, hold your tongue until you’ve had some. Red pales by comparison. It doesn’t even come close.
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