20
As a kid, I was prone to nosebleeds. My
parents, citing traditional Chinese med-
icine, blamed all the fruits I ate that gave
me ‘‘excessive heat’’ — especially the
lychees, my favorite. It didn’t stop me
from gobbling them down by the dozens,
pretending each was a succulent eyeball.
After we left China and settled in a suburb
of Quebec City, lychees became harder to
fi nd, and thus an infrequent treat. When
we would drive to Montreal’s Chinatown
to shop for groceries, I’d scan all the pro-
duce fl ats, looking for my red jewels.
As I’ve grown older, my fi xation on
exotic fruit has intensifi ed — the weird-
er, the better. The reality of being an
armchair pomologist in Canada is that
most of our fresh fruit is imported, espe-
cially during the colder months. The
consequent silver lining is that almost
everything in my local stores qualifi es as
exotic and interesting. Maybe it’s a fi n-
ger-shaped lime with juice vesicles that
look like caviar; maybe it’s a ham-hued
pineapple, engineered by Del Monte to
be Instagrammed. It doesn’t matter if aE x o t i c Fr u i t
By Tracy Wan
fruit is natural or genetically modifi ed,
beautiful or misshapen; I am an equal-
opportunity sampler.
Trying a new fruit expands my under-
standing of the world and enriches my
experience within it. Just when I think
I have a solid grasp on the spectrum
of natural aromas, a fruit like the lulo
(a nightshade that resembles a toma-
to and is known in Spanish as a ‘‘little
orange’’ but tastes like neither) appears
at my favorite cheese boutique and
undermines the whole system. I bought2.27.Each tasting
is a chance to
be rendered
wide-eyed and
wordless.Letter of Recommendation
Illustration by Sun Bai