tasting a "bad" ubajay for the first time...

[huertasurbanas]

A few weeks ago at Carlos Thays Botanical Garden I found ubajays on the ground and, as the perfume did not pleased me, it did not seem a good idea to eat them ... I barely bit one and it was very acidic, but other people wanted to taste them and they liked them, to this day I did not understand them...

Yesterday a friend harvested ubajays from their trees and he did not liked them either, so I asked him to give me some fruits to try: it did not seem so bad to me, they just have a very strong and acid flavor but there are other varieties that should be clearly superior, good and sweet (Miguel Pt and a nursery woman form Entre Rios).

For now I hope that my ubajays bear some fruit to see which one is the best - maybe I have the sweet variety given that a tree is from Entre Ríos and the nursery woman who sold it to me said that she has a good variety, with medlar (nispero) flavor. Then I will graft the trees of the acid variety with branches of the best variety, or perhaps I will leave them like this because I think that these acid fruits have a complex and interesting flavor tone to prepare ice cream ... in fact an overripe fruit had a much better perfume , similar to that of the uvaias, and I imagine that flavor prepared with a lot of sugar and I think it's fantastic for jams, sweets, candies ... it's a caramel-like taste but with something strange, with a strong "alcoholic" touch.

But if I try to ear them raw, natural: I dont like them.

I added some sugar and the almíbar from them was good








PD: my friend wants to kill his trees... hahaha, he will give them to me as a gift

[huertasurbanas]

Later I tried it again and I felt a taste of onion and garlic, and now I can not get that idea out of my head: I think I read something like this from a report from Miguel Pt, and said that the national food of his country was in base onions and for that reason he would grow it ... I kept thinking if it would not look good on preparations that use onions? the flavor is really strange ... I imagine it to flavor cakes (those moist cakes that carry a syrup with liquor), puddings, other desserts ... I will do the tests this week and I will tell you how it was ...

[fruitlovers]

Got to taste some ubajays for first time in Brazil. I don;t remember them being very acidic, but yes they had a bit of a strange taste and smell, but nothing over powering. The texture was soft and kind of mushy. I think you are right, and that they would be better after some processing, rather than eating out of hand. Jelly would probably be great.

[Solko]

I’m with you on the search for better tasting varieties. I grow a couple of young trees here, and it is quite hard to find seeds from superior quality. I know the university of Montevideo in Uruguay has a program to look for better varieties, but even they are skeptical and haven’t really found one yet. Miguel’s report on his exceptional seedling is very hopeful though, and also the fact that genetically the Ubajai is close to Uvaia, so they may cross sometimes. If you ever find seeds of a good variety, i’m very interested! My young trees are only two years ol, but very beautiful and very easy to grow. They can take a lot of cold, drought and neglect and still look healthy and green.
Good luck!

[BrianL]

I tried the tree at Santa Barbara, California.  Odd smell, sweet taste.  Like a acidless pitangatuba to me in a way.

[huertasurbanas]

Got to taste some ubajays for first time in Brazil. I don;t remember them being very acidic, but yes they had a bit of a strange taste and smell, but nothing over powering. The texture was soft and kind of mushy. I think you are right, and that they would be better after some processing, rather than eating out of hand. Jelly would probably be great.

That calms me a lot... I dont know why some people grows acid ubajays... maybe it is just because the botanical garden Carlos Thays has them here and it is easy to find seeds from them. Today a friend told me that there is a better variety there.

I will do jelly and other foods with our acid/tart ubajays, it is a funny fruit to me

[huertasurbanas]

I tried the tree at Santa Barbara, California.  Odd smell, sweet taste.  Like a acidless pitangatuba to me in a way.

wow, that sounds good! I never tasted pitangatuba but an acidless ubajay sounds amazing

[huertasurbanas]

I’m with you on the search for better tasting varieties. I grow a couple of young trees here, and it is quite hard to find seeds from superior quality. I know the university of Montevideo in Uruguay has a program to look for better varieties, but even they are skeptical and haven’t really found one yet. Miguel’s report on his exceptional seedling is very hopeful though, and also the fact that genetically the Ubajai is close to Uvaia, so they may cross sometimes. If you ever find seeds of a good variety, i’m very interested! My young trees are only two years ol, but very beautiful and very easy to grow. They can take a lot of cold, drought and neglect and still look healthy and green.
Good luck!

Dont worry, I will send seeds of sweet varieties when I find them! for now we should rely on Miguel! Yes, they are super hardy!

[BrianL]

[huertasurbanas]

Brian: that leaves look way more slender/elongated than ours! it should be a different variety

[huertasurbanas]

I did a mermelade and it is wonderful! Even my brother, that doesnt use to like rare fruit flavors, tasted it and liked it a lot. It should be good added to any dessert, icecreams ar so.








http://www.huertasurbanas.com/2017/12/22/como-hacer-mermelada-de-ubajay-sirve-para-otras-frutas/

[BrianL]

Brian: that leaves look way more slender/elongated than ours! it should be a different variety

Yeah so young leaves appear to be broader.  If you think it's something else let me know.  Fruit looks the same as yours though when you cut it or break it open.

[huertasurbanas]

Brian: that leaves look way more slender/elongated than ours! it should be a different variety

Yeah so young leaves appear to be broader.  If you think it's something else let me know.  Fruit looks the same as yours though when you cut it or break it open.

No no, it should be the same species but different varieties, I am glad you found a sweet one!

[BayAreaMicroClimate]

Has anybody found a good variety? Brain laufer had one he said was similar to peach. I really regret not buying it from him. I have one now from wanderlust nursery and I’m assuming it’s not going to be the best but we’ll see.

[Francis_Eric]

Huertasurbanas would you ever consider just selling the Mermelade
not much room for potted plants but  would buy that (and been wanting boldo tea seeds for a while.)

[CherimoyaDude]

Has anybody found a good variety? Brain laufer had one he said was similar to peach. I really regret not buying it from him. I have one now from wanderlust nursery and I’m assuming it’s not going to be the best but we’ll see.

I think Brian was referring to the Orpet park tree which is the garlic one. I think some people are more sensitive to the taste than others