Ramblings of a Passionfruit Enthusiast

I’m sure by now you know how much I value passionfruit iced tea, but have you ever seen a passionfruit — like a whole passionfruit that you can cut open? I asked my friend Rich, the chef at Woody’s, what one looked like, and he said, “You know what? I’ve never seen one. Not a whole one.” I thought it was crazy that he hadn’t ever seen one, being a chef and all. So, I started to be on the look out for a real, whole passionfruit, and I found one! I found one at the Stop & Shop in Howell, right next to the baby pineapples, the starfruit, and the guavas. A passionfruit is a wrinkly little purple or yellow orb with a stem (I think the purple ones are better). It grows on a vine and contains a little bit of tart pulp with a bunch of dark green seeds. It smells delicious, but its very expensive — $1.59 for one — and contains very little juice or actual fruit. No wonder you rarely see them. If you ever do find one, though, I’d splurge and pick one up just to cut it open and check it out. What a cool little thing!