Spring has, of course, sprung which means all the farms and gardens around the village are abundant with new, fresh and usually unknown to me fruits.
When The Turk arrived he planted trees around the garden but they are still very young and so far only our nectarine (which is a sad looking young sapling) has borne fruit.
I have however been thieving fruit from the neighbour’s trees to taste and to introduce to you today.
The first fruit that I have never seen (or tasted) before is called as Yeni Dünya (New World) but you may know the fruit as a loquat. There are so many trees groaning under the weight of these little beauties that I am clearly doing their owners a favour when I steal them. I am told that you should never buy them from the market and if you cannot eat them straight from the tree don’t bother as you are wasting your time. They do not keep well, even in the refrigerator, and can bruise very easily. They are succulent, tangy and sweet. Delicious.
Another seasonal fruit in Mersin at the moment is an Erik, a super crunchy little fruit that you need to eat it now – before it ripens. They are quite tart or sour in taste but they are very moreish. The Turk has them with salt which I believe can soften the taste a little. Can anyone tell me if eating unripened fruit is problematic to the digestive system? I remember from science class (all those millennia ago) that unripened fruit is very acidic but honestly I just cannot stop eating them. As they ripen the Erik fruit loses its zing.
There are so many fruits currently burdening the trees and gardens around the village (mulberries, apricots, nectarines) that I now take a basket with me when I go on pilfering so that I can pick at the branches as I go by – and I am not the only one who does it as I helped an elderly lady fill a plastic bag with Kayisi (unripened apricots) this morning. When she had had her fill she patted my face and said “sus” which basically means keep quiet or hush. We are now partners in crime.
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janeyinmersin 
Haha – stealing fruits Jane? 😀
My father’s village house has a big prolific garden, and the neighbors on one side grow fruit for market. So we get more than our full of dut, erik, fındık, çilek, üzüm (mulberry, plum, hazelnut, strawberry, grape), and wait for it – kiwi! That was a big surprise to me when they started growing kiwi.
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Kiwi is huge here at the moment. The Turk just got his hands on an avocado tree which he is planting as we speak.
Mango is a harder commodity to find. There is a tree in the village but not many mangoes atm.
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where did he get an avocado tree? and what kind??
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Haven’t seen it yet. It’s being dropped off on Saturday. very excited. Hoping for Haas.
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where you are has a very similar climate to where im from in southern california where there are a lot of avocado farms. hope you get a haas and that it is fruitful!
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Yummo!
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I love that you have so much knowledge Ellen. You are going yo have no problems over here.
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There’s nothing like fresh fruit or veg, especially if you’ve picked it yourself, though obviously in the UK we’re not so exotic!
Apple crumble, I’ll pick them off our bramley. Onions, yep, had a good crop and this year they are doing well. Tomatoes froze better than I thought, we are on the last bag of green beans having used the carrots yesterday, blackberries and rhubarb, blackcurrants (trade for apples).
Best though was when in NZ: fancy a slice of lemon for your G&T? I’ll just go and pick one for you! and as for Kiwis………………. I tried all varieties! YUM!
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We planted our green beans recently along with tomatoes and chillies. Yum
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I could make a pasta dish out of those when they’re ready!
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Oh give me a recipe.
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Off the top of my head, I’d chop the toms and green beans, add a chopped onion and some of the chillies (don’t know how hot they are so how many is up to you) and throw them all in a pan to cook. The toms will provide enough juice for ‘sauce’ which you could thicken with a little flour or equivalent. I’d probably add a variety of herbs too. Cook basic pasta (the multi coloured twisted stuff looks very pretty on the plate) then put the sauce on the top. Garnish with a bit of parsley or grated cheese.
My tomato pasta mix is just chopped tomatoes and an onion, stock cube and mixed herbs served with pasta quills, so I’m basing it on that.
Don’t know if this would work mind, but I’ve recently taken to putting green beans, peppers and toms in my curries and they come out OK.
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I’m not able to pick off of tress here, but just walking into the grocery store now makes me so happy. The fruits and vegetables are all so beautiful and fresh and vibrant. A few weeks ago lettuce looked so sad and pathetic and now just begs to be picked up. The arrival of spring this way is something quite novel for me.
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It’s a huge difference to fruit and veg in Australia. Seasonal is just that – seasonal.
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Thank you for clarifying that a Yeni Dünya is a loquat. I’ve been trying (although not with much effort) to figure it out for almost a year now! Afiyet olsun.
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It was actually a friend who is living in Florida that gave me the name, apparently they are everywhere there.
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I love fruit and would love to have a garden burgeoning with fruit bushes and trees.
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In Sydney we lived in an apartment most of the time so never had an opportunity. Now we had nectarines, lemon, orange, apricot, olives trees and a mature fig tree. So excited!
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You have a good life Jane!
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Yes I really do (but still way too much dust)
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I love the image of you and the little lady being partners in crime!! These all sound delicious and totally foreign to me. Wish there was fruit I could pilfer around here – but alas!
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Alas you are a heartbeat from London, Paris or Rome. You’ve got your benefits believe me lol
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I couldn’t refrain from commenting. Very well written!
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