The delicious monster plant blooming

[Ed in Houston]

How Do You Prepare Delicious Monster?

1. Place the fruit in a paper bag or upright in a glass, stem side on top.  Let it ripen naturally – which takes 2-4 days depending on the age of the fruit and the humidity.
2. When the scales have started to peel off, gently remove remaining scales with your fingers, revealing the soft white flesh underneath.  Warning: this may remind you of skinning an iguana or a nightmare you had as a child after watching an alien movie.  Keep in mind, the fruit coming to you is named Delicious Monster for a reason!
3. Using a thin knife, remove the now delicate and somewhat slimy scales from the hard and inedible core.
4. Mix into a smoothie, sprinkle on yogurt or cereal, or eat raw for an unbelievably delicious treat!

 

 

Ed in Houston

 

 

[Really full garden]

Ed, it is so strange but monstersa are very popular garden plants here, but no one has any idea that the fruit is edible and deliciosa.

[Matt in OC]

Wow, I had no idea it was edible. My plant is starting to take on some size so I'll definitely try it when it fruits. Thanks, Ed!

[Kim]

How would you describe the flavor and texture? Hoping this doesn't "taste like chicken."

[Gonzer]

The consistency of boiled okra.

[peachy]

They are also called the fruit salad plant because the fruit supposedly tastes like fruit salad. To me they taste like a cross between passionfruit and pineapples. A word of caution however, only eat it in very small quantities or your tongue goes numb.

 

[Really full garden]

I would describe the flavor as banana-mango with hint of pineapple. They are dangerous to eat when not perfectly ripe (which is borderline rotten). I believe that it is oxalic crystals that cause pain/numbness to tongue and mucous membrane. In some countries the fruit is known as ceriman.

[Jubaea]

I have been waiting for the fruit on mine to ripen.  I have never tried them before and am unsure when I should pick them.  They are about 6 inches in length and have been on the variegated plant for about a year.  Here is a picture from today.  Are they ready to be picked?

Dylan

[tropicbreeze]

They're ready to eat when the scales fall off. Problem is they start to ripen at one end of the fruit while the other end is still unripe. So you eat them progressively. People put them in a paper bag, scrape off the ripened part and put the other part back into the paper bag.

Funny thing is that they flower and fruit better in a colder climate. Here I've had them for years and they never flower. But my Monstera adansonii and Monstera siltepecana both flower regularly.

[aussiearoids]

They take exactly 1 year to ripen . As the fruit matures it slowly droops from an erect stance,

to a horizontal position, and will be pointing down when ripe .

[Pip]

I remember eating the fruit when I was a child. Served with ice cream it was delicious. I've not tried it since even though my monstera in my old garden is very productive.

[aussiearoids]

I first saw these fruits in my home town of Geelong , and tried them in Melbourne .

Was surprised the fruits did not get much bigger in ideal wet tropical conditions .

[edric]

How cool, I had no idea, this is the standard split leaf Philodendron you're talking about, not Epipremnum aureum? thanks, Ed

[Josh-O]

On 8/23/2016, 1:14:39, Kim said:

How would you describe the flavor and texture? Hoping this doesn't "taste like chicken."

lol

[aussiearoids]

On 8/28/2016, 8:13:06, edric said:

How cool, I had no idea, this is the standard split leaf Philodendron you're talking about, not Epipremnum aureum? thanks, Ed

Monstera leaf are much more than 'split' usually showing many perforations  Ed

[edric]

Thanks Michael, ya, it's the same as the ones between my house and the neighbors, 80% on my property, I've been taking care of them for years and they're huge, Ed

[Fusca]

On 8/23/2016, 8:11:04, Ed in Houston said:

How Do You Prepare Delicious Monster?

1. Place the fruit in a paper bag or upright in a glass, stem side on top.  Let it ripen naturally – which takes 2-4 days depending on the age of the fruit and the humidity.
2. When the scales have started to peel off, gently remove remaining scales with your fingers, revealing the soft white flesh underneath.  Warning: this may remind you of skinning an iguana or a nightmare you had as a child after watching an alien movie.  Keep in mind, the fruit coming to you is named Delicious Monster for a reason!
3. Using a thin knife, remove the now delicate and somewhat slimy scales from the hard and inedible core.
4. Mix into a smoothie, sprinkle on yogurt or cereal, or eat raw for an unbelievably delicious treat!

 

 

Ed in Houston

 

 

Nice garden Ed - I'd like to see it next time I visit my sister in Atascocita.  Maybe her Monstera deliciosa is bearing fruit also...

Jon

[SouthSeaNate]

It is common to eat the fruits here in Malta, I have not tried them myself but have been told they taste a cross between banana & pineapple...

[Steve Mac]

And don't eat the thin black dividers between the beautiful little fleshy segments either, they make your tongue numb too.

i think that they taste like custard apple and pineapple mixed.