Monday, May 9

Spotted at the Supermarket

Nefles
I love that even after 2.5 years here in Luxembourg I still see new things at the grocery store. Today I saw these fruit called nèfles. They look like apricots, about the same size and color. I bought a few just to give them a try. They don't taste like apricots at all, the flesh is not dense, it is more watery not unlike a grape. The taste is a mild citrus and something else that I just couldn't find the word for.
nefles
I read the nèfles wiki page and was surprised to see that the pictures and description did not match the fruit I'd bought. A few clicks later and I learned that what I'd purchased is actually a loquat. Why they were labeled as nèfles (also called Medlar) I'm not sure. It seems nèfles are made into jam and tarts.

Huh, ya learn something new everyday. If you anything about these nèfles/loquats/medlars please leave a comment.

8 comments:

likeschocolate said...

I have never heard of the French name of this fruit, but have heard of Louguat. Never tasted one though. My son flew with his dad over to Germany and will stay with his grandparents until the 9th of July. He will go to school there until the end of June and then has 2 weeks of summer camp put on by the city. My older son did this 2 summers ago and had a blast. He will then fly home with a teenage friend of the family a 19 year old girl who will then come and stay with us for a month. So no flying alone yet. I don't even think he can fly alone at this age internationally even with an airplain escort. Since September 11th a lot of the rules have changed. Thanks for asking!

kathi said...

Those are definitely loquats. I grew up eating them off the tree in our backyard in south Texas. We would climb up in the tree and pretend it was our house and the loquats were our food. Thanks for the trip down memory lane.

christie said...

hmmmm...they made me think Quince. mom

Dim Sum, Bagels, and Crawfish said...

I grew up calling those Japanese plums...loved eating them in my aunt's backyard. I hadn't thought of them in years until moving to Sicily. Here they are called Nespole. I love their sweet tangy taste.

Road Trippers said...

Ditto Kathi! We had a loquat tree in our front yard in Texas and I devoured them as a kid. Delish. I've never once seem them for sale in a grocery store.

Anonymous said...

these fruits similar to plums. They are so delicious, I'm salivating now! They grow in hot places. Im from Brazil and my grandmother used to have this tree in her garden. I went to Lebanon recently and saw lots of them on trees!

yukonsally said...

hi! i'm a friend of tara's and she told me about your blog. super great!
i had a loquat tree behind our house in southern california. it was HUGE! we ate ever single one we could collect, they were so delicious! we had at least 3 neighbors that would come by, leaving with huge bags to take home and make jam. we made jam too a few times. it was delicious, if a bit crunchy. we never quite got the sugar part right. thanks for the memory - and eat those things up while you can!

Emily M. said...

these were popular in switzerland this time of year too! i actually first discovered Orangette while searching for info on this fruit a few years back:

http://orangette.blogspot.com/2007/05/eat-walk-repeat.html

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