The first time anyone tastes something new, the moment can become etched in memory. This is true, of course, if it’s a “Wow, I want more of that” event or possibly quite the opposite.
My Wow Moment happened in Hawaii when I bit into a passion fruit bar, a riff on the classic Lemon Bars: A smooth custardy tart/sweet filling baked atop a crunchy shortbread crust and dusted with powdered sugar—homey yet sophisticated.
Passion fruit’s flavor and acid notes keep luring me back for more. I’d never tasted anything like it—not mango, not papaya, not star fruit—and when I’m in Hawaii I always seek it out at farmers’ markets.
As I write this, I’m in southern California, near San Diego, and passion fruit grows here, too. The fruit grows wild on vines and has a thick shiny shell. Here the fruit is a dark purple color. When picked, the shell is smooth. When left in the kitchen, the shell puckers and shrivels.
The picture above shows whole and cut passion fruit. The inside of the fruit—just picked or with puckered shells—is filled with a seedy pulp, and it’s all edible—seeds and pulp.
For baking, I need a seedless pulp. A few brief pulses in a blender turns it into juice and leaves the seeds intact. I pass the combo through a fine-meshed wire strainer and voila!, I get a lovely orange-colored juice.
