Last Fruits of Spring

It is officially still spring and these are fruits typical of Lebanon that are only available a couple of weeks at the end of spring.

I rarely find them in Vancouver, but they are abundant in Toronto.

In Lebanon we call those "Jerenk". Best to describe them as green plums. They are small (the size of a large marble), much thicker to crunch into than regular plums, and are on the sour side.

We typically eat them dipped in salt (but yes, they are still considered fruit).

"Akidenya" or loquat. As far as I am concerned, those are the best fruit on the face of the earth. They are rich tasting, and the smaller they are and the closer to orange their colour is, the more like honey they taste.

Imported typically from Spain, Lebanon, Isreal and China - the ones from China are large and tasteless so stick to the mediterranean ones if you find them.

They have huge seeds which have now gone into the ground in le jardin. They do tolerate our weather to a certain extent and can grow into massive, yet beautiful tree. 

A garden in Lebanon is never complete without a loquat and olive tree.