Summer fruit may be more than it appears to be

The first time I ever encountered something strange about fruit was years ago when I accompanied my first husband on a business trip to Los Angeles.  We had dinner in a hotel restaurant and I ordered a strawberry dessert.  I was quite nonplussed when the strawberries turned out to be about the size of nectarines.

At that time it didn’t occur to me to be alarmed; I thought more like it was some sort of luxury strawberry.  And I did notice that you never saw strawberries like that in the store.  I still don’t know why they were so large.

Today we would suspect that those strawberries were genetically engineered—the famous GMO food that we now avoid.  In addition to the organic label, many foods now specify that they were produced from fruits and vegetables that are non-GMO, such as the soybeans used to make Silk and other soy-milk products.

Nevertheless, you will often come across the super-sized blueberries that look like blue mothballs, and other genetically-modified produce.  They are never labeled as such, and it is up to the consumer—caveat emptor—to realize that what they are looking at is something that is against the law in many other countries.

So the other day when I bought the raspberries to make the coulis that accompanied my lemon pudding cakes, I saw that the raspberries were normal but not organic.  They were great, though—you make a coulis by passing the sugared berries through a mesh screen strainer or a food mill.  I used Splenda and the strainer; the coulis was delicious over the lemon cakes.

But as a general rule, there are two problems with delicate fruit like peaches, nectarines, apricots and berries.  They have thin skins, and pesticides can enter the fruit through that skin; they are also subject to genetic modification to add shelf life and so that they can be picked earlier and ripen in transit.

I don’t like to buy non-organic fruits and berries, so how to avoid it?  One thing is by shopping in the Co-Op on Fourth Avenue in the University area.  They have a huge organic produce section, and not only is the produce organic but it is locally grown.

The Tucson health-food stores like Whole Foods and Sunflower Supermarkets will be putting in organic fruit because they know that we are looking for it just now.  If you live up north, try Sprouts on Oracle Road and you’ll find organics.  I also found that a ten-pound box of organic apples is just under $9.00 at the new Costco next to Interstate 10, which is also near my house.

The very big-box stores like Costco and Sam’s Club also carry the largest bags of mixed fruit and berries, including melon. 

So if you want to make a coulis of strawberries, raspberries, blueberries or blackberries, just get two or three boxes of the fruit and add sugar or Splenda to sweeten them up.  Palm sugar would also be ideal for this purpose; if you want to avoid calories, Raw Stevia is also a good choice. 

After you have mixed the fruit and sweetener, pass them through a food mill or a mesh sieve until only the seeds remain behind.  You will lose some volume in this, but it is unavoidable as you get rid of the seeds.

Coulis is divine added to drinks—it is like a fresh fruit syrup.  I offered it served over a lemon pudding cake, but you can mix and match a lot of different desserts with it.

For example, you can make a strawberry coulis and add sliced berries for a richer-than-usual Strawberry Shortcake.  If you like the combination of fruit and chocolate, try a raspberry coulis on the side with chocolate cake.

Coulis can also be brushed over cake layers to form a sort of filling.  I saw an article about baking that suggested that you brush simple syrup over your cakes before frosting them, so if fruit would be nice, go ahead with it.  You could also fold coulis into your whipped frosting, either whipped cream or some dairy-free type. 

I can’t think of anything much yummier than a white cake with raspberry coulis in between the layers, frosted with raspberry whipped topping and garnished with fresh raspberries.  You can also find organic berries in frozen form, which is unimportant if you plan to cook with them rather than serve them to be eaten at table.

It was amazing for me to be reminded just how delicious the simple fresh raspberry-sweetener flavor was all by itself.  And I can’t wait for Strawberry Lemonade and iced tea.  Enjoy your summer fruit!