After reviewing the picture, I could not for the life of me see the "thief". I thought maybe it was an individual in the background. After embarrassingly sending a message back saying, "I don’t get it", she exclaimed, "are you serious?" then proceeded to tell me about the cute little bushy tailed squirrel having a snack in the tree - a snack called a loquat. My next question was "Loqua-huh??" It was the first time I had ever heard the word loquat! Immediately I associated it with kumquats and assumed it was a fruit. And so began the conversation. Jessica had not known that the tree in her front yard was a loquat tree. She was very excited and began inviting people over to pick up bags of them and at one point, even made a loquat icecream!
For some mysterious reason our corner of Los Angeles has an abundance of loquat trees (Eriobotrya japonica) that, at this time of year, produce prodigious amounts of fruit that mostly goes to waste. Many of these trees live in public spaces, the parkway and people's front yards making them prime candidates for urban foraging i.e. free food.
The tree itself has a vaguely tropical appearance with waxy leaves that look like the sort of plastic foliage that used to grace dentist office lobbies back in the 1960s. In short it's a real tree that looks fake with fruit that nobody seems to care about.
I plan to take advantage of this beautiful abundant tree fruit and make one of these yummy treats this weekend! Granted Jess and the squirrels have not eaten them all yet! I challenge you to find your local loquat tree and get to exploring this delicious fruit!
http://food.lizsteinberg.com/tag/loquat/
1 comments:
My new favorite fruit! So underrated yet so delicious!
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