The Best Summer Fruit You've Never Heard Of

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It’s that time of year again—summer is coming, the weather is warming, and colorful, cool, delicious fruit is beginning to decorate bowls and plates across the land.

But let’s face it: eating the same fruit year after year is boring. Strawberries, oranges, apples, bananas, and pears are great, but if you want to really stand out from the crowd, it’s time to be daring and try something new this summer—exotic fruit.

Certain fruit is rare in America for a variety of reasons. Some don’t ship from their native countries well. Others spoil quickly or require special preparation. Some don’t make it over just because, well, they look funny and we’re picky eaters.

But we’ve been missing out. Some of the best-tasting, most beautiful and interesting fruit in the world is also some of the strangest and most foreign. They might be oddly colored, shaped like stars, covered in spikes, or smell downright weird, but they’re delicious, nutritious, and will make you the star of the next summer picnic or get-together.

So let’s get adventurous and take a look at some of the best summer fruit you’ve never heard of so that you can make your next meal a memorable one.

Dragon Fruit

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Many people have heard of dragon fruit, but only as a flavoring in their favorite drink or smoothie. Rest assured, the real deal is even better!

Dragon fruit grows in the subtropical regions of Asia and South America, where it grows in abundance. Considered a cactus plant, this fruit features a tough outer skin that looks like—you guessed it—dragon scales.

Its vibrant reddish-pink color is only the beginning of this fruit’s allure—it’s also loaded with vitamin C, B1, B2, and B3, as well as iron and calcium.

Dragon fruit is also a great source of monosaturated fats—the good fats—and is packed with fiber. You can’t go wrong with this beautifully unusual-looking fruit.

To eat it, all you need is a spoon and a knife. Cut it right down the middle and use your spoon to scoop out the white, seed-speckled interior flesh. Discard the exterior “scales,” as these can give you a stomach ache if you eat them.

Otherwise, enjoy!

Jabuticaba

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There are two reasons why the jabuticaba fruit doesn’t tend to make it to the U.S. First, it spoils quickly, making it generally unsuitable for long-distance shipping. And second, it looks a little scary while on the tree.

Jabuticaba grows straight from the bark in clusters of dark spheres, making its tree look as if it is covered in strange warts. But rest assured—this fruit is anything but gross.

Native to South America, this exotic fruit looks like a large, thick-skinned grape. When ripe, it has a sweet flavor, and is similar in consistency to a mescaline grape.

To eat a jabuticaba fruit, you must first remove the bitter skin. To do this, just take a knife and slit the outer covering of the fruit, and then pop it into your mouth! There will be four large seeds—you’ll spit these out just as you would with a grape.

They’re not only great-tasting, but delicious, too—jabuticaba is loaded with antioxidants and anti-inflammatory compounds that will leave you feeling refreshed.

Easy, delicious, and unusual, this fruit is sure to impress your guests this summer.

African Horned Cucumber

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This is one fruit that most people have actually seen at their local grocery stores, but probably haven’t yet tried. The reason?

Well, it’s weird-looking and spiky. That’s about it.

If you can get past its outwardly dangerous appearance, the African horned cucumber is one exotic fruit you’ll love.

This fruit is considered vital to solving food shortages in sub-Saharan Africa—it retains significant amounts of water, even in drought, and provides a range of essential nutrients through its green, gelatinous interior.

Also called kiwano, this fruit has high concentrations of vitamin A, vitamin E, zinc, and antioxidants. A few of the organic compounds within kiwano even help regulate adrenaline and stress hormones!

The green inside of the African horned cucumber tastes like a combination of cucumber, zucchini, and kiwi, and gains a banana-like taste as it ripens. To eat it, simply cut it in half and either scoop or squeeze out the contents. If you like, you can eat the seeds—they’re even more nutritious than the fruit!

Durian

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A food writer once called the smell of the durian fruit as “turpentine and onions, garnished with a gym sock.” In Singapore, the fruit is banned on public transportation, hotels, and in many common areas. It’s scent has also been likened to rotting meat and public restrooms.

You’re probably wondering how, then, durian made this list.

It’s simple—durian is considered one of the most delicious fruits on the planet.

Chef and TV host Anthony Bourdain is a huge fan of durian fruit, describing it as “pungent, runny French cheese.” He means this in a good way, of course.

In Southeast Asia, durian is called the “king of fruit,” in part, due to its size and spiky appearance. But beneath that dangerous exterior lies 10 seeds about the size of dates, and around these seeds is a thick, custard-like “meat.”

The taste of this flesh is sweet, almond-like, and extremely creamy, with the texture of a rich cheesecake. It also has a slight smell of alcohol about it, and eating this fruit will make you feel warm—as if you’ve just downed a shot of something strong.

This fruit is, if nothing else, an experience. Bring it to your next party, crack it open, and challenge your friends and family to try it—after all, it’s loaded with healthy fats, potassium, fiber, and iron. Those brave enough to dare will be hooked for life.

Mangosteen

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According to legend, Queen Victoria offered a reward of 100 pounds sterling to anyone who brought her a fresh mangosteen. Hence, the mangosteen is called the “Queen of Fruit.”

Native to Southeast Asia, the mangosteen is a little bigger than a tennis ball, and is covered in a tough, purple rind. This fruit grows on a tropical evergreen tree which, amazingly, takes around 10 years to begin bearing fruit.

Because its rind can harbor the destructive Asian fruit fly, mangosteens weren’t allowed into the United States until 2007. They are now fumigated or irradiated before importation, but are still rare—and expensive—due to the difficulty involved in cultivation.

Of the taste, journalist and food expert Raymond Walter Apple Jr. once admitted that “I'd rather eat one than a hot fudge sundae, which for a big Ohio boy is saying a lot.”

The mangosteen is juicy and very sweet, and tastes like a combination of strawberry, peach, and vanilla ice cream. To eat it, cut around the rind until you can pull it in two. Inside, you’ll find white, segmented pieces of fruit.

In addition to being delicious enough for a queen, the mangosteen is high in vitamin E and vitamin C, making it healthy and tasty.

Aguaje Fruit

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To be very honest, the aguaje fruit is annoying, and that is probably why it hasn’t caught on in America. The outer skin is made up of numerous small, scale-like diamonds which must be painstakingly picked away to get to the yellow flesh beneath. This makes for a decidedly involved eating process.

But this fruit, native to South America, is about the size of a fig and tastes a little like an especially delicious, pulpy carrot.

Containing protein and healthy fats, this little fruit packs a lot of nutrition into a compact size. It contains five times as much vitamin A as carrots, and is one of nature’s best sources of beta-carotene. Native Peruvians eat over 50 tons of aguagje fruit per day.

This fruit also makes for fantastic wine, jam, oil, and ice cream, so the next time you’re thinking about putting out a big spread, consider including this little, maroon fruit in your plans.

Cupuaçu

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Cupuaçu, pronounced koo-poo-ah-soo, is a tasty, melon-sized fruit hailing from the Amazon Rainforest drainage basin in Brazil.

It’s also one of the most nutritious superfruits in the world, containing a complex array of vitamins, minerals, essential fatty acids, and minerals. It’s not called the “pharmacy in a fruit” for nothing, and is set to soon become the next big trend in healthy foods.

Contained within a hard outer shell, the white pulp of this fruit tastes and smells like chocolate and pineapple, and is often used in deserts.

To eat a cupuaçu you’ll probably want to take a hammer to the shell, gently striking it until it cracks. Once you’ve got it open, the soft, off-white mass within is yours for the taking—just scoop it out and break it apart.

At this point, you can simply snip the seeds out with a pair of scissors and either serve as-is, or put it into a blender with a few spoonfuls of sugar, as well as a little water.

Either way, you’ve got one delicious fruit on your hands that’s also one of the healthiest in the world. You can’t go wrong with this particular exotic fruit.

Cherimoya

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The cherimoya looks like something from the Jurassic age, but this is the same fruit that author Mark Twain once called “the most delicious fruit known to men.”

Grown in tropical regions throughout the world, the cherimoya has a creamy, custard-like texture, and tastes like a combination of banana, pineapple, papaya, peach, and strawberry. Those in the know about this fruit enjoy it chilled, calling it “the ice cream fruit.”

To eat cherimoya, just peel and slice the fruit, discarding the large, black seeds—they’re mildly poisonous. Here, you can simply scoop the fruit right out or, if you’re feeling adventurous, slice it up and bake it into a delicious tart.

Do this, and you and your guests will be treated not only to a delicious meal, but to an array of helpful antioxidants and vitamins. Most notably, cherimoya contains a large amount of potassium, which helps to regulate high blood pressure.

Go and check out Twain’s claim that this is the most delicious fruit in the world—you might just find that it is.

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