What Is Monster Fruit?

Lauren Shockey

It's a monster!

While shopping at Garden of Eden the other day, we came across a fruit in the produce department that we had never seen before: the delicious monster (a/k/a monstera deliciosa, or monster fruit). Obviously we had to purchase it, (1) because it looked like a giant breadfruit penis, and (2) it's a fruit called the delicious monster!

Priced at $4.99 a pound, it's not the cheapest snack on the block, given that the monster fruit is about the size of an exceptionally large plantain. It came in a mesh bag with instructions that read, "Eat creamy white flesh inch by inch when six-sided exterior green portions fall away naturally." The fruit was rock-hard when we bought it, so we let it sit on the counter for a day and a half.

Lauren Shockey

And then, magically, the exterior began to break away, revealing a flesh that was the color of bananas and had corn-on-the-cob-like kernels.

Lauren Shockey

We bit into the fruit, which came off in pieces, sort of like a seedless pomegranate. The flavor was most similar to that of a sweet pineapple, with hints of kiwi, passion fruit, and banana. If you've ever eaten the tropical flavor package of Skittles, it tastes like when you pour a whole handful into your mouth at once. The flesh is juicy, but also leaves a bit of a chalky aftertaste. The package says that it can be used in salads, with cereal, in drinks, shakes, or desserts. It discolors somewhat once it's been peeled, though, so it's probably best to use it in something like a shake or drink. And by drink, we obviously mean boozy rum cocktail.

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