Mmm! Longan is back in season!

There are four fruit highlights for me during the Thai agri year:

ripe mango

mangosteen before they start getting the lumpy bits in them

ripe papaya when it's that lovely golden colour and tastes really sweet

and longan. Truly one of the kings of fruit, and so cheap!

Moving swiftly on to vegetables I also love all of the different Thai aubergines/egg plants, but not raw in salads. I completely agree with the Brit TV chef and author, Nigel Slater, that aubergine is the king of vegetables. If you slice and salt the small yellow ones for about 2 hours it takes most of the bitterness out and they add a lovely colour and flavour to Thai dishes as well as falang soups, stews and casseroles.

If you like your Indian curries, check out the aubergine dishes at Nazim's, Fatimah's or that other one that I can never remember the name of(!) the next time you're in Vientiane.

N.B. BUT NOT THE TOMATO SOUP FROM FATIMAH'S... IT"S TERRIBLE!

Oh, yes. And those fresh, 'wet' peanuts are back on the market stalls again!

They're the ones with the soft shells that squirt juice out when you open them. You can even eat the baby ones whole. Shell and all.

Try eating a bag of them after a brisk 2 mile walk for a true natural high!!

OT used to grow mint outside in a container until he caught the dog p1ssing on it.

OT..............

old-timer wrote:OT used to grow mint outside in a container until he caught the dog p1ssing on it.

OT..............

OT, how many times did you use the mint before you caught the dog watering it?

And to think that his TW tried to sell my TW some of that stuff!!!!

Stantheman wrote:OT, how many times did you use the mint before you caught the dog watering it?

Tricky question that one, when I spotted the mutt cocking his leg over the herb garden the kids told me that they'd seen the dog p1ssing there lots of times, soon after I heard that I got the catapult out and shoot the mutt up the @rse.

Back on the subject of Thai fruit, who likes or can eat that stinking Durian - that fruit smells worse than OTs' fresh garden mint.

OT.......aromatic mint producer.......

Yes, durian is hideous.

It's def. an Asian thing. I've yet to meet one falang that actually likes it.

And the TTW is NOT allowed to eat it in the house!!!

The wife brings it home quite often. She will eat 80% of it and I will only eat about 20%. I think JS is right about the small doses. I like it better when it is cold, but will only put it in the fridge for a short time and only if very well wrapped in plastic. Not my favorite Asian fruit, but have been able to cultivate a bit of a taste for it.

I suspect there is legion of durian lovers and a legion of durian haters with only a few who like it just a little.

I have noticed that Thai Well Fit Birds tend to suffer from a bit of dogbreath after eating durian. The fish sauce that the mother in law brews must be amongst the most disgusting smelling and looking local delicacy. Mind you, even OT can eat spicy lao som tum which has half a ladle of that locally brewed stuff mixed into it. Never done me any harm. touch wood.

OT........

Well, gentlemen, I DO stand corrected!!!

TTW put some in the fridge once, wrapped in plastic, and come the morning absoutely everything in the fridge smelled and even tasted like durian, and this was just after we'd done a big weekly shop, including a trip to one of the German deli's for some pricey cheese and meats. Everything, apart from the durian, paid for by muggins himself of course!

She no longer does it and our nighbours think I'm very strange for making her eat it otside the house.

And she thinks I'm strange for making her rinse with Listerine after she's eaten it!

Last week,I was travelling in the Chiang Rai area. Yes, eating longans sold on the roadside, fresh off the trees now, was priceless.
By the way, why 'mangosteen' is called that; I do not see any derivation from 'mango'.

This might, ur, help!

Origin:
1575–85; < Pg manga, prob. < Malayalam māṅṅa

Origin:
1590–1600; earlier mangostan < D < Malay manggis ( h ) utan (dial. manggista ) a variety of mangosteen ( manggis mangosteen + hutan forest)

And YES, the off-the-tree roadside longan is sensational!

The problem with the Longan is that once you start eating them you can't stop. OT can eat a Kilo easy, and i break the shell in my teeth which my mrs says is a vile habit. She does tend to nag a bit.
OT came across this little basket of fruit The pinky red round fruit in the top left corner of the picture are one of the best. I don't know what they are called....anyone ?

I have more than 80 lam yai trees and not a single goddamn harvest. I mean nothing. In 2007 I could fill my truck three times over. Life was good. Since then, nought. I'll take the hit for 2009 because on bad advice, we pruned the trees back too far. But now they're as big as they were in 07 -- nuthin'.

I fertilize the trees, trim them, mow around them, suffer their existence.

And what do I get in return? Nuthin. I'm currently blaming the bees. Haven seen any in years.

I'm considering paving the whole lot.

Any suggestions? (yes, I know, concrete rather than asphalt)