Tuesday, August 15, 2006

Summer is the best time of all to enjoy my favorite frozen treat.

Certainly, ice cream ranks up high on the list--as does every other country's form of ice cream, be it gelato or kulfi or shaved ice. But the sugars make me thirsty; the sticky clean-up is a chore. Let me tell you: for pure simple pleasure, nothing beats a Ziploc bag full of frozen grapes. No muss, no fuss, but totally delicious.

The grapes have a firm, solid texture that slow melts away to reveal soft, frigid fruit. The grapes' skin collects a layer of frost that sometimes grows to be inches thick. If you forget about the grapes and leave them in the freezer too long, the grapes turn into oddly-shaped, purple-or-green wads of ice.



The flavor is tart and sweet. At times, a frozen grape can be like an unripe persimmon in that the moisture is sucked from your mouth only to be replaced by the water from the melting ice. Other times, a frozen grape can alarm you with its sugary, granular texture.

Frozen grapes have no aroma; they burn your fingers with an icy touch if you hold them to long. But, man, are they good.



Other fruits that are good frozen include bananas (especially when coated in chocolate!) and most berries. Strawberries can turn out rather tart, so I tend to sprinkle them with a bit of Splenda before biting into them. I've tried to freeze oranges and apples--I love both--but neither turn out very well. How disappointing!

Freeze some grapes today! You'll be glad you did.

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