Who ate my herbs?

Weeks ago I featured some small herbs that I grew in my balcony. Everything went well until one morning I found that the new basil and dill leaves were eaten! At first I thought the birds destroyed my plants but they didn’t. The one who ate my basil and dill was this cute little possum, who we named Pat for now.

My flatmate found him hiding under the clothing we hung out earlier. It was a cold afternoon so that was a pretty warm place to sleep. Anyway, Pat is a Ringtail Possum which is very common here in Australia. They like to eat leaves (yes, I know that now!) and adapt well to live close to human. I have seen them at night sometimes, but never as close as this time. Look, he is hiding is face behind the long curly tail saying “No more photo, please!” How cute! :D When the night came Pat left (possum is nocturnal) and we haven’t seen him since. I am really fond of him although he did destroy my growing herbs! Oh well, we all share the love for herbs/vegies I guess…

Because Pat ate my herbs, I nearly miss out Weekend Herb Blogging, which retuns home to Kalyn this week! So instead of cooking something using herbs/vegies, I would like to feature one of my favourite tropical fruits – custard apples (also known as sugar apples).

Despite its name, custard apples do not resemble apples in anyway. With the pale green and reticulated skin, they do not look very attractive, either. But do not let the look fool you. Custard apples are one of the sweetest and most delicious fruits I have ever tasted! The interior flesh is white, juicy and extremely sweet. The taste and texture do resemble custard in some way. There are also some hard shiny seeds inside, which are normally black or brown.

The custard apples I bought are from Bundaberg, Queensland. They are huge in size compared with the ones I used to have in Vietnam. The taste and texture are excellent though. One nice thing is this variety does not contain a lot of seeds, which make it easier to eat.

Buying custard apples are just like with avocado. The best way is to choose the firm and green-looking ones, bring it home and let the fruits ripen at room temperature for several days. Custard apples are ready to eat when they are softer.

I enjoy custard apples as they are - fresh without any preparation. Pat the Possum, however, misses out on this since custard apples are too good to share!