DATE: Wednesday, October 22, 1997           TAG: 9710210046

SECTION: FLAVOR                  PAGE: F2   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY BETTY DOUGLASS, CORRESPONDENT 

                                            LENGTH:   55 lines

EXOTIC PASSION FRUIT HAS ADAPTED TO EVIRONMENTS AROUND THE WORLD

``FIRST the good news - passion fruit is good to eat,'' writes Bruce Beck in his book ``Produce, A Fruit and Vegetable Lovers' Guide.''

``It has a rich, exotic, tropical flavor that makes for a pleasant change of pace during its short seasons (right now into early December).

``The bad news is for everyone who suspected that passion fruit is sexy. In truth, it gets it name from its flower, which is supposed to display the iconography of the passion of Christ, specifically the crucifixion.''

The passion fruit, native to Brazil, has adapted to environments around the globe, including here in Hampton Roads.

The purple fruit most often found in our local markets is grown in temperate climates, and the yellow in tropical and subtropical zones. Most of the fruit in our market area is flown in from other continents, but passion fruit was introduced into Florida more than 90 years ago. Still, passion fruit isn't a large commodity in that state.

Elizabeth Schneider in ``Uncommon Fruits and Vegetables: A Commonsense Guide'' says, ``The ripe fruit is the size and shape of a blunted egg, most commonly a dusty purple-brown. . . . It looks like a partly deflated rubber ball left in the rain, then dried.

Inside you find ``liquidy bits of mustard-yellow pulp the shape of teardrops,'' Schneider says. Each juicy capsule contains a tiny, crisp, dark seed.

Selection and storage: Look for dark and dusky fruits that are large and heavy (since they're usually sold by the piece, and weight promises an abundance of pulp).

Passion fruit is ready to eat when it is creased (but not so far gone as to be cracked or squishy); its shell-like casing remains quite firm. Passion fruit keeps amazingly well. It is seldom that you will find one that is rotten - only underripe. Purchase fruits that are firm, smooth and rounded. Keep at room temperature for a few days until they become dimply and sound sloshy when shaken.

When they are ripe, store them in the refrigerator for about a week or, as Schneider suggests, freeze them in plastic bags, for months. When needed, simply take out of the freezer and halve; the pulp will defrost quickly and taste bright-fresh. The freezing also breaks down the pulp a bit, making it easier to puree.

Uses: Passion fruit can be halved and eaten with a spoon just as it is or with a splash of lime juice, says Beck. ``Imaginative cooks can find interesting ways to use passion fruit to garnish a variety of desserts, especially fruit salads. When the pulp is sieved and the seeds discarded, the juice of passion fruit lends a tropical touch to fruit punch or other beverages. It can certainly be used for ices and ice creams, mousses and bombes, and creams, souffles and sauces.'' MEMO: Betty Douglass is a free-lance food writer and home economist in

Portsmouth. All recipes in this article have been kitchen-tested by the

author.

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