The season is upon us again. I love this time of year in the Miami Redland. May, June and July always mean there's lychees around somewhere in the Redland.
For those of you who may not know what a lychee is, I'll explain. Well, I'll give you my take on it. I was only introduced to them 4 years ago. They quickly became my favorite fruit. The fact that I can only enjoy them a short time each year makes them even more precious.
Lychees (pronounced lee-chees by most, and lie-chees by others) are also called (incorrectly) lychee nuts sometimes. They're not nuts at all and the seed is not edible. You can learn everything you ever wanted to know about lychees here.
Lychees are smaller than a ping pong ball and usually heart shaped. The skin is warty and leathery and breaks easily when you bite into it to get the fruit. The flesh of the fruit slides out easily and is reminiscent of a huge, luscious grape. Lychees are related to mamoncillos, or quenepas, if you know what those are. Lychees are native to China and I'm so glad they found their way over here. They are slightly acidic but sweet although not overly sweet.
I have 8 lychee trees in my yard but the hurricanes of 2 years ago have prevented us from getting much fruit. Last year we got none and this year only 2 of the trees produced, and very little at that. Lychee trees usually produce fruit only every other year but the hurricanes made our waiting time even longer.
A couple of weeks ago I was driving along 147th Avenue and gasped and pulled over. I gave my mother a terrible fright! She thought something was wrong, but no, something was RIGHT! There alongside the road was a farmer selling his lychees! At $5 a pound I only bought 2 pounds but would have bought more if I had had more cash on me. To demonstrate how popular lychees are around here I have to tell you that by the time I finished paying for my lychees, there were 6 other cars waiting to buy theirs. I asked him if he would be back the next day but he said he didn't have that many to sell. I understood totally. They're hard to find this year. That also explains the price. One can usually find them for $3/lb and at the end of the season even $2/lb.
I can't wait for next June!
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Maggie Dokic, SFR is a licensed real estate broker in the state of Florida selling residential real estate in Miami, Palmetto Bay, Pinecrest, Coral Gables, Gables by the Sea, High Pines, the Redland and other select areas of SW Miami-Dade County.
Maggie has earned her SFR certification to be able to better serve the needs of her customers in today's non-traditional real estate market. SFR is a Short Sale, Foreclosure Resource Specialist. Designees have been trained to understand the highly specialized options available to Sellers facing short sales & foreclosures and Buyers looking to buy them.
For more information on our local real estate market, or to see or sell a home in Miami, Palmetto Bay, Pinecrest, Coral Gables or the Redland, visit my Miami Real Estate blog or contact me at Maggie (at) TheBlogThatAteMiami (dot) com.
The opinions expressed herein, are those of the author, and not necessarily of Prudential Florida Realty.
Maggie - now I know - thank you so much - I always think I am speaking spanish and saying mikl when I type lychee - I feel so much better knowing and nice copyright of your photos.
Paula - Now if you could only taste one. Yum yum!
Thesa - it had never occurred to me that it sounds like leche...lol it does. I'm using PhotoFiltre for photo editing. It does the copyrights lickety split.
did you put this in the group ActiveRain Fruit Stories?
These are sooo weird but good... feel like a peeled grape
Maggie - so that's what a LYCHEE looks like!! They're sorta ugly looking in a cute kinda way, huh? At first, I thought you were holding dirty strawberries. The taste sounds good, from the way you described it. Maybe some day I'll actually get to try one. I'll have to look for them in the stores around my dad's next time I'm down. Is this the time of year for them?
Congrats on making the Week in Review this week! Now we'll all know what these little things look like that we type in all the time!
Ann
Ann - they are kinda ugly. I remember when I tried them the first time, it was with much trepidation. I wasn't sure I was going to like them. I remember from the first Florida gathering that your dad lives down here right? If they have them available, by all means try them. I am sure you will like them. The season is 2-3 months, May - July. This year there aren't that many at all so they may be gone in a few weeks. Thanks for your lovely comment!