Passion fruit is one of the most enticingly aromatic of fruits. Slice one in half, spoon the seeds and pulp into your mouth and experience a burst of flavor that seems to combine every tropical fruit.

Purple and egg-shaped, passion fruit is available year-round but is at its peak abundance and flavor right now. (It's name, by the way, comes not from its lovely flavor but from its flower, in which 16th century Spanish missionaries saw symbols of the passion, or crucifixion, of Christ.)

Passion fruit is usually associated with desserts, but its perfumed flavor and acidity make it a welcome addition to savory dishes, especially chicken, fish, duck and pork. For this Sunday's supper, I add passion fruit pulp to a classical French beurre blanc (wine-butter sauce) for pan-fried fish.

At the market, choose fruits that are large and heavy, with wrinkly yet firm shells. Avoid those that are soft. To ripen passion fruit, store at room temperature until it becomes dimply and sloshes when shaken.

When ripe, store passion fruit in the refrigerator or freeze it whole in plastic freezer bags. When you're ready to use it, just cut it in half. The pulp will defrost quickly and taste fresh. One passion fruit yields about 1 tablespoon of pulp.

You can strain out the seeds if you wish or leave them in and enjoy their nice crunch. Frozen passion fruit pulp, sold at most supermarkets, is a fine alternative to fresh.

Carole Kotkin is manager of the Ocean Reef Club cooking school and co-author of Mmmmiami: Tempting Tropical Tastes for Home Cooks Everywhere.

Join the discussion

The Miami Herald is pleased to provide this opportunity to share information, experiences and observations about what's in the news. Some of the comments may be reprinted elsewhere in the site or in the newspaper. We encourage lively, open debate on the issues of the day, and ask that you refrain from profanity, hate speech, personal comments and remarks that are off point. In order to post comments, you must be a registered user of MiamiHerald.com. Your username will show along with the comments you post. Thank you for taking the time to offer your thoughts.

     Showing: Oldest first Newest first Most-recommended first Least-recommended first

@Nyx.AuthorDisplayName@ wrote on @Nyx.PostedAtTime@:

@Nyx.repliedToText@

@Nyx.replyAnswerText@

Reply to this Comment @Nyx.Recommender@ @Nyx.AbuseReporter@