Wonder what fruit is this?

Seen this fruit before??Know what it is??Coconut??Still wondering....??
It's not a coconut...it's a FIG.


Fig
Ficus carica
Family: Moraceae


Description & storage Fig:
soft sweet fruit, full of small seeds and often eaten dried. Fresh figs are delicious and often jam and chutney is made from them. The skin of figs is very thin and ripe figs can't be kept or transported very well. As figs have to be picked when ripe you only can eat them fresh in the country of origin. In the warm countries the figs are dried for export and storage.


Tree / shrub
The fig tree/shrub grows upto 9m x 7m. Short histotory Figs are originally from small Asia and are one of the first fruits cultivated ever. The Greek mention them and around 60 A.C. and Plato promoted the fig as being the nutrition for athletes. A story is known of the Greek government that had forbidden all export of figs once to assure themselves a good outcome at The Olympic Games. The Greek knew about twenty nine fig sorts. Officially figs were imported to Europe around 1600. Today there are more than 600 different fig types.


Use Figs taste best consumed "warm" from the tree. They are dried often because they can't be stored.


Types and family
There are over 600 fig cultivars. Other peculiar characteristics A lot of fig plant races are used decoratively: like the rubberplant and the ficus benjamina; Dried figs contain a lot of sugar, about 60%. It is thought that that was the reason why Plato advised Greek athletes to eat many figs.
The white juice that drips out of the fruit if the the stalk has been broken off is called latex. It was supposed to represent the universal energy and was used as a remedy against infertility and to incite the breast feeding process.


Each fig cultivar has different shaped leafs; Dried figs consist for about 60% of sugar, contain a lot of vitamins and it is said that humans could live on figs alone. It is a very healthy fruit and you can consume as much of them as you like.


Figs and health

Figs are one of the highest plant sources of calcium and fiber. According to USDA data for the Mission variety, dried figs are richest in fiber, copper, manganese, magnesium, potassium, calcium, and vitamin K, relative to human needs. They have smaller amounts of many other nutrients. Figs have a laxative effect and contain many antioxidants. They are good source of flavonoids and polyphenols. In one study, a 40-gram portion of dried figs (two medium size figs) produced a significant increase in plasma antioxidant capacity.
Detailed nutrient available @ http://www.thefruitpages.com/chartfigs.shtml

dried figs

figs on tree

A Taxi Ride

~This article nearly caught drowning with tears~

TAXI

I arrived at the address where someone had requested a taxi. I honked but no one came out. I honked again, nothing. So I walked to the door and knocked. 'Just a minute', answered a frail, elderly voice. I could hear something being dragged across the floor.

After a long pause, the door opened. A small woman in her 90's stood before me. She was wearing a print dress and a pillbox hat with a veil pinned on it, like somebody out of a 1940s movie.

By her side was a small nylon suitcase. The apartment looked as if no one had lived in it for years. All the furniture was covered with sheets..

There were no clocks on the walls, no knickknacks or utensils on the counters. In the corner was a cardboard box filled with photos and glassware.

'Would you carry my bag out to the car?' she said. I took the suitcase to the cab, and then returned to assist the woman.

She took my arm and we walked slowly toward the curb.

She kept thanking me for my kindness. 'It's nothing', I told her. 'I just try to treat my passengers the way I would want my mother treated'..
'Oh, you're such a good boy', she said. When we got in the cab, she gave me an address, and then asked, 'Could you drive through downtown?'
'It's not the shortest way,' I answered quickly.'Oh, I don't mind,' she said. 'I'm in no hurry. I'm on my way to a hospice'.
I looked in the rear-view mirror. Her eyes were glistening. 'I don't have any family left,' she continued. 'The doctor says I don't have very long.' I quietly reached over and shut off the meter.

'What route would you like me to take?' I asked.

For the next two hours, we drove through the city. She showed me the building where she had once worked as an elevator operator.

We drove through the neighborhood where she and her husband had lived when they were newlyweds. She had me pull up in front of a furniture warehouse that had once been a ballroom where she had gone dancing as a girl.

Sometimes she'd ask me to slow in front of a particular building or corner and would sit staring into the darkness, saying nothing.

As the first hint of sun was creasing the horizon, she suddenly said, 'I'm tired. Let's go now'

We drove in silence to the address she had given me. It was a low building, like a small convalescent home, with a driveway that passed under a portico.

Two orderlies came out to the cab as soon as we pulled up. They were solicitous and intent, watching her every move. They must have been expecting her.

I opened the trunk and took the small suitcase to the door. The woman was already seated in a wheelchair.

'How much do I owe you?' she asked, reaching into her purse.
'Nothing,' I said'

You have to make a living,' she answered.

'There are other passengers,' I responded.

Almost without thinking, I bent and gave her a hug. She held onto me tightly.

'You gave an old woman a little moment of joy,' she said.

'Thank you.'

I squeezed her hand, and then walked into the dim morning light. Behind me, a door shut. It was the sound of the closing of a life.
I didn't pick up any more passengers that shift. I drove aimlessly lost in thought. For the rest of that day, I could hardly talk.
What if that woman had gotten an angry driver, or one who was impatient to end his shift?
What if I had refused to take the run, or had honked once, then driven away?
On a quick review, I don't think that I have done anything more important in my life.

We're conditioned to think that our lives revolve around great moments.

But great moments often catch us unaware-beautifully wrapped in what others may consider a small one.
PEOPLE MAY NOT REMEMBER EXACTLY WHAT YOU DID, OR WHAT YOU SAID, BUT THEY WILL ALWAYS REMEMBER HOW YOU MADE THEM FEEL.

Life may not be the party we hoped for, but while we are here we might as well dance.

Ais Tingkap/Window Sherbet @ Lebuh Tamil

After looking at Penang TuaPui's blog (http://www.penangtuapui.com/2009/02/desserts-ais-tingkap-window-sherbet/) on Ais Tingkap, I went to try with my sisters. The beverage is pinkish red in color (from the rose syrup) with the ice sherbet, lot of basil seeds & few slices of coconut flesh. It's a thirst quencher!

Some facts about basil seed:

Basil Seed

Ocimum canum

The small (half the size of a sesame seed), black, oval-shaped, seeds of lemon scented basil, when soaked in water, develop a slippery, translucent coat. These are floated in the sweet cold drinks which are popular in hot countries and are claimed to have a very cooling effect on the system. Their texture is slippery (gelatinous coating) and at the same time crunchy (the actual seed) with no appreciable flavour.

Medicinal uses:

The seeds are said to relieve stomach ailments. Because of their slippery coating, they are considered soothing to the digestive system.

Tasty pau in Simpang Empat (Penang)

Especially the 'big' pau, which run out pretty fast. The restaurant is after Public Bank and beside a big school, along the main road of Simpang Empat town.

Hairy Gourd with Dried Octopus Soup

Ingredients
600g hairy gourd (peeled, cut into pieces)
300g pig's spinal bone
30g perserved turnips (rinsed)
20g Chinese almond flakes
80g dried octopus
6 cored red dates
3000ml water

Seasoning
salt/light soy sauce (to your taste)

Method
1. Soak the dried octopus into water for 1 hr until soften. Remove and rinse. Keep aside.
2. Rinse the pig's spinal bone pieces, blanch into boiling water. Remove, rinse under running cool water, drain well.
3. Cook water into a deep pot, add in pig's spinal bone pieces, perserved turnips, red dates and Chinese almond flakes. Bring back to the boil, reduce to a low heat and cook for approximately 1 hr.
4. Add in hairy gourd pieces, continue cook for further 1 hr. Lastly, blend in seasoning, mix well. Serve at once.

Hand-made fish ball in malacca

Worth trying. Sorry I forgot the name of the shop...hehe....but it's a corner coffee shop, right opposite the menara taming sari..

Restoran Bunga Raya Porridge @ Melaka

Pork Porridge

Fish Porridge


Good porridge! It's the 2nd row of shop houses opposite the Menara Taming Sari.