Ten Exotic Fruits You May Not Have Tried

For chayote: cut into squares, steam or boil, add salt and melted butter.
Two sweet fruits some of you might not know: caimito, purple and white inside, black seeds ; and mamey, reddish brown with a huge black seed, like a pink avocado. Both are truly delicious.

I agree with the poster about Buddha's hand.

Durian - I like. But it is "fussy". It can taste sweet and custardy when it is on the edge of ripe. But one minute past ripe and it is slimey and just a yucky taste.

Cherimoya - I like. Also a custardy pear like flavor. But leave it in the fridge and the flavor goes out.
I like Rambutan. They are very similar in flavor to the lychee. I prefer lychee over rambutan though.

There are two fruits that I would like to add. I do think they are an acquired taste though.
Santol and Duhat.
Santol has a leathery outside, but white sour and tart flesh inside. Best eaten with salt. The salt makes the tart and sour a bit sweet. I cannot describe what flavors it is closest to though.
Duhat - I know they are known as java plum in other parts of the world. Their flavor is like a deep dark bitter sweet flavor. Like a sweet black currant and a white cherry flavor. They make your mouth water, from the astringent properties in the skins.

In Costa Rica, we have the fruit listed in the article as "Rambutan", but we call it Mamón Chino. I always describe it to visitors as a cross between an anemone and a grape. You use your fingernail to tear the durable, spiny outer covering, then gnaw or suck on the grape-like white object in the middle. The grape thing has a pit inside that is about 80% the size of the grape, so it's sort of like gnawing on a grape with a peach pit inside. But the flavor is pretty tasty.

We have chayote also, and I agree with the other poster that is doesn't have a lot of flavor on its own, but it is often prepared with other flavorful items, and it takes on their flavor. They taste delicious is meat-based soups. There's a dessert that some of our friends make using honey, chayote, and some sort of light cheese, and they fry the whole thing, and it tastes pretty amazing.

A couple other exotic fruits they have here are granadillas and guaba. Granadillas look about the size of a tangerine on the outside, but when you open them up, it is reminiscent of a bag of snot, full of slimy sunflower seeds. Maybe a tangerine full of fish eggs or something. Either way, I was unable to eat very much of it. The Guabas look like a giant pea pod. But when you split it open, instead of peas, there are little fruit-like seed things. I think you sort of suck on them, like the mamón chinos I mentioned earlier.

Cherimoya sounds like a fantasy fruit! I'd LOVE to try that!

I didn't expect such excellent feedback. Interesting! Thank you.