A Word On Food: Lychees

What an unfortunate name for something so sensual! This is definitely not what Katherine Hepburn objected to with Humphrey Bogart in the classic movie “The African Queen”! She was speaking of leeches. 

Earlier this week we were standing on the sidewalk in Wynwood where it is often best to practically press up against a wall so you don’t get jostled by the roving hordes of happy folks who have discovered that once all but forgotten area of Miami. An out of town friend of ours had stayed the night before in Homestead. He lives in L.A. and New York City and is in the process of moving here part time. When I asked him why the visit to our beloved agriculturally rich community to the south he answered that he has a friend who farms down there. It was his first visit there. I asked what his friend was growing, He replied, ’Right now they are harvesting lychees’. I instantly wanted a bag of that delicious fruit! I had to explain to him about the fruit as he’d not yet experienced them. I must make that happen for him. Maybe the best way for me to do it is to ride with him back to Homestead and do it right were they come out of Mother Nature’s loving arms. 

Exotic Fruit expert Elizabeth Schneider tells us that lychees come from “majestic trees which grow up to forty feet and are densely covered with coppery evergreen leaves through which emerge with clusters of brilliant-colored fruits that hang like bunches of strawberries.” In addition to here lychees are also grown in Southeast Asia, Australia, Israel, South Africa and Hawaii. 

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Now it’s time to hit the ‘Listen on WLRN’ button at the top to hear the remainder of my show. ‘A Word On Food’ airs on WLRN every Saturday around 8:30 a.m. at 91.3 and also 91.5 on the radio. I want to thank so many of you who tell me in person how much you are enjoying the show! Please check out my Instagram photos and my new IG TV cooking videos @normanvanaken 

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