BKK TRIPPING: PART 2 / MAY 21-23,2008 =D

We trooped to the Thaifex soon after breakfast on Day 2. Everyone agreed to complete the rounds of the entire expo that day--even if our feet killed us--so that we can reserve the next day for trade and supermarket visits. Business, business, business. Hay... =)

There were a lot of new product ideas around, but this post really is about the one thing that has always fascinated me about Bangkok: their fruits. It doesn't matter if they're sold off the streets or in some fancy gourmet market within the mall, they never fail to pique my curiosity nor have they ever failed to satisfy my expectations. I don't know what they do with the fruit trees in Thailand, but I have visions of one great farmland of Jack-&-the-Beanstalk magnitude. How can they not have gigantic trees when they all seem to yield gigantic fruits?

The Santol. Well, everyone knows about the santols from Bangkok. When we were kids, I remember one of my titas always harping about how the santol tree in our House Better backyard always yielded fruits that were as sweet as the ones from Bangkok, except that they were not as big. Mother would then offer that when she bought the tree, the vendor claimed that it was a Bangkok santol tree. Maybe. Maybe not. But our House Better santol tree did yield fruits that were as sweet as the ones from Bangkok, except that they were not as big. =)

Mangoes. This one sold for 80 Baht per fruit (around Php 115). That's a pretty steep price to pay for one mango. Except that these are actually the size of medium papayas. Yes. The size of medium papayas. And they're quite sweet too (although not as sweet as our own =)).

These are the green version. Bigger than the dragon fruits (who are all bigger than usual too). Almost as big as grapefruits (which are also bigger than our suha, although NOT as sweet) . I asked if I could buy one of the mangoes to take home (as pasalubong you know, haha!). Apparently, not at the Thaifex. And the sellers claimed they're not yet readily available in the fruit stands either (possibly only in the specialty gourmet markets at this point). They say it's a new variety whose quality was only recently "stabilized". They're going to start introducing it to the world market soon. Sadly, a check with Legal when I got home yielded that we don't have a Fruit MOA with Thailand yet so it may take a while before we see these in Manila.

Grapefruits. Big but tart. Perfect only, I think, for the Thai salads. I still prefer the Davao suha even though they're technically less than half the size. =)

But never mind the grapefruit. Check out the Balimbing! My siblings, my cousins and I spent a good part of our childhood shaking Noni's (my fave grandmother) balimbing tree and snacking on the fruits that fell (careful to catch them before they could splatter on the hard concrete). These ones could eat my childhood balimbings alive. Haha! 'D Yes, they're almost as big as the grapefruit. Unfortunately, these ones I did not get to taste as the exhibitors were not offering any samples on the spot.

Never mind the balimbing. Check out the ginger displayed next to some grapefruit! Now, these are scary....hahaha! =D

In addition to these gigantic fruits (and veggie =)), I was also quite impressed with the seeming million-and-one ways the Thais can process coconut. This was my favorite. They had a machine that automatically took the husks out, leaving only the hard shell. They then used a process that can "freeze" the coconut juice to the consistency of sherbet. Sometime during the processing, they would also make an incision on the shell before shrink-wrapping each coconut. The incision would make it convenient for the consumer to open and eat the contents after they buy it from some convenient store. This one, I did get to taste. It's as natural as any sherbet can get. Yum! ^_^ You can also choose to let it melt and drink it as natural coco juice, but where is the fun in that? =)

Anyway! Here they are. Coco fruits on the left, processed, natural, shrink-wrapped sherbet on the right. =)

I was also looking for fresh sweet tamarind, but there seemed to be none at the expo. I only found a stall that sold the sweet-spicy sampaloc balls that I love. They were selling it at the expo for only 100 Baht for 3 cylinders. I had seen the booth early on, decided I did not want to lug a huge plastic bag of sampaloc around the expo, and consequently made a mental note to just drop by at the end of the day. Unfortunately, by the end of the day, my feet have turned into lead, even as my mind turned into mud. I ended up buying these at the airport duty-free, 15 minutes before boarding. What would have only costed me 100 Baht for 3 cylinders at the expo set me back 150 Baht per cylinder at the airport! Talk about regrets. Hay...=(

Anyway! More in the next post. Got to go to work now. Yes, even at this hour. =(