All Fruit Cocktails are Not Created Equal

Fruit Cocktail

Let’s talk fruit cocktail.  When I was a kid every once in a while for no apparent reason in the dead of winter we would have fruit cocktail for dessert.  The fruit was not fresh and thankfully not frozen, but it was canned.  All I knew is that when this day came I was stoked.  There was usually only one nuclear cherry in the can so endless fighting between my brother and I ensued.  Flash forward to current day I still have a fascination with fruit cocktail but I do stay away from the canned variety.

Every Chance I get to do a fruit cocktail on a special menu I take it.  So this past Saturday I had such an opportunity.  It was a small celebratory gathering of 16 people and they would nosh on a few hors d’oeuvres then move into a four course dinner.  So a light dessert was in order.  I only do this dessert for groups of 20 or less due to my poor prep cook who has to produce the Mise En Place.  This is how the dessert unfolds first I find my one Parisian scoop that produces balls the size of a large BB.  Once I have this tool I begin looking for the ripest of fruits.  Of course you go through all of the types of melons finding the ripest ones.  Then I find some pineapple, strawberries, grapes and kiwis.

Now that the standard fruit has been selected its time to find some rare and exotic types.  On this particular occasion I found some very nice and ripe guava, papaya and passion fruit.  At this point each of the fruits are gently and precisely scooped using this miniature melon baller.  That does include the strawberries and grapes.  The on e twist with the grapes is that they are peeled first.   Now I’m sure you’re seeing a bit of why I only do this dish for smaller groups.

With the fruit scooped ill make a light rhubarb syrup with a bit of mint, this will help to bind the fruit but also use some of the fresh fruit juices to make the syrup.  I like to finish this dish with a sorbet, for this event a champagne sorbet was in order.  And a bit of texture in the way of a rhubarb crisp.

Truly a delicious way to enjoy your daily serving of fresh fruits.