Thursday, October 25, 2012

Spooky Fruit from Frieda's Produce

Ghost chiles. Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books

 Pretty innocent-looking chiles, right? These miniature morsels of molten hellfire are Ghost Chiles, the hottest chile pepper on the planet, certified by the Guinness Book of World Records. These red demons, known as Bhut Jolokia in India, where they are grown, top the heat-o-meter at 1 million Scoville units (jalapenos, by comparison, rate 2,500-5,000, and habaneros 200,000-300,000).

 The witty folks at Frieda's Produce included the Ghost Chiles in their Spooky Pack, sent to me this week. Accompanying the chiles were a Kiwano (Horned Melon), a Buddha's Hand Citron, and bag of black garlic.

Frieda's Spooky Pack. Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books
 The Kiwano, colored like a Nickelodeon cartoon, is featured in Frieda's Facebook promotion, "Save a Pumpkin, Carve a Kiwano."  Check out the clever carvings on Facebook and contemplate your own Kiwano makeover - be sure to post a picture and you could win goodies from Frieda's.

I've only heard about black garlic before today, probably from watching "Chopped," and assumed it was a variety of garlic, but it is actually fermented and aged garlic, which is why I haven't taken it out its packaging. Frieda's advises using black garlic in barbecues and Asian dishes. Any advice from readers out there?

I experienced the Buddha's Hand citron with my sense of smell before my sense of sight. The floral fragrance was released when I opened the box. My kitchen smells great, a good thing, since the Buddha's Hand is really rather creepy. Looks like a claw, doesn't it?

Buddha's Hand Citron. Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books


Giveaway time! Frieda's Produce will send a Spooky Pack to an A Cook and Her Books reader, so just leave a comment with your favorite spooky food (it doesn't have to be a fruit or vegetable) and a winner will be chosen at random on Sunday, Oct. 28!

This contest is now closed. Thanks for entering!

Text and images copyright 2012, Lucy Mercer.

Disclaimer: Frieda's sent me this lovely Spooky Pack, but other than that, I was not compensated for this post. My opinions are my own. And thanks for reading.

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10 comments:

  1. UnknownOctober 25, 2012 at 11:01 PM

    I'd love to get my hands on a Buddha's hand (haha!) and I would love to try the ghost peppers. Have a spooky Halloween!

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  2. AngelaOctober 26, 2012 at 10:13 PM

    Well I am dying to try some black garlic, so I would go with that--or maybe some peeled grapes in a bowl of noodles...

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  3. Toni nutzaboutredwings@yahoo.comOctober 28, 2012 at 8:01 AM

    Wonder if a tad ghost pepper wouldn't put my sweet n sour beef stew at a whole new level. It is my fav 'spooky' food, in that Halloween is usually the first time of cool weather season that I make it.

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  4. meredith mOctober 28, 2012 at 8:26 AM

    I like dragonfruit! The black garlic looks rad, how are you going to cook with it?

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  5. AnonymousOctober 28, 2012 at 8:26 AM

    Spooky Food...hmm....canned me scares me! Lol!
    The spooky fruit looks awesome!

    -Lacey Houseman

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  6. CindyJROctober 28, 2012 at 8:36 AM

    "Back in the day" we made spooky food for homegrown haunted houses. My brothers and I peeled grapes for eyeballs, used plain, boiled spaghetti for innards and made jello molds with yucky stff in it for ectoplasm. All this was felt in the dark by our screaming little friends.

    Happy Halloween!

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  7. patis2October 28, 2012 at 5:40 PM

    I love the spooky produce - there are so many fun halloween themed things to do. Im a huge fan of the grape eyeballs

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  8. AmandaOctober 28, 2012 at 7:50 PM

    My favorite spooky food is cactus fruit. Prickly on the outside sweet on the inside!!

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  9. UnknownOctober 28, 2012 at 8:29 PM

    You Had me at Ghost Peppers, I make an amazing Arrabbiata Sauce The black Garlic has my curiousity..

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  10. Peanut Butter and PeppersOctober 28, 2012 at 11:09 PM

    Hmmm, scary food!! How about dragon fruit!! There freaky looking!

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