sineguelas

daanbantayan has rich lands. being an agricultural place, the livelihood is more focused on tilling the field (aside from fishing, of course.)

i always look forward to summer not because of the BREAK, but because i get to taste one of my favorite fruits for free. yes, daanabantayan is one of the best breeding grounds of SINEGUELAS, and other tropical fruits. so, let me start featuring infamous outgrowth.

i remember this fruit as a subject of one of the riddles back in my elementary days. darn! i wasn't able to answer the question. i guess it never pays off if we only get to "mind" the consumption part of the fruits we're eating. not knowing how it's being grown.

i haven't really met someone who's not a fan of sineguelas. i mean, who wouldn't like the sweet-sour taste of this juicy fruit. makes me start salivating now.. hehehe! it's been ages since i have tasted one.

at the backyard of my grannies' house in lanao stood a very old sineguelas tree. am not sure how old it is, but my mom used to tell me that it's already there long before they were born. so, that old. anyhow, everytime i asked my grandma if ican climb to get fruits, she always tells me to have one of my cousins get some for me. she always cautions that i may fell down the tree, and might get hurt. hmmmm.. grandmothers! and yes, it's quite dangerous. some branches are already dead, and you'll never know if it's your lucky day.

anyhow, here are some info about this very delicious fruit:

------Sineguelas (Spondias purpurea) or Spanish Plum in English, is a native to Mexico and the western coast of Central and South America. Brought over by the Spaniards, it has taken very well to the Philippine archipelago and thrives here, according to Doreen Fernandez.

The fruit are approximately 1 to 1.5 inches in length and start off purplish or maroon green and ripen to a yellow or dark red state. The skin is taut and shiny and the flesh firm when unripened and slightly astringent (I like them this way) or soft, sweet and mushy when they are truly ripe.

They are in season from April to June or so but they seem to peak in May. Although mostly consumed as a fruit, some regions cook the raw fruit in sinigang or use it in kinilaw according to Doreen Fernandez’s book on Philippine Fruit. In other countries, the fruit is made into jelly, pickled in vinegar, or dried to preserve the fruit.

Very special to Sineguelas tree is that during harvest time often the tree has no leaves or only few leaves.

sources:

http://www.marketmanila.com/archives/sineguelas-spanish-plumhttp://www.kriyayoga.com/photography/photo_gallery/v/Fruits_of_the_Philippine_islands/sineguelas_tree-dsc00261.jpg.html