Guía de Restaurantes - Vieques Events

december vieques events
Un apasionado
de la Fruta de la Pasión
Passionate About
Passionfruit
although ubiquitous on Vieques,
the passionfruit is actually a
native of South America. In fact,
in the year 1610 the Mexican
Friar Emmanuel de Villages
encountered the plant and was
immediately enraptured with
its fragrant, complexly formed flowers and became
utterly convinced the blossoms depicted the Passion
of Jesus – hence the common English name “passionflower.”
The creative friar interpreted its curling
tendrils as representing the lash of Jesus’ scourging;
the floral column as the pillar to which he was bound;
the 72 radiating filaments as the crown of thorns;
the 3 stigmas as the 3 nails used to crucify Him; the
5 anthers as His 5 wounds; the foliage as the Centurian’s
spear and the round fruit as the world He came
to save. An amazingly inspired four hundred year old
allegory, to be sure!
Called parcha in Puerto Rico, parchita maracuya
in Cuba and grenadilla in other Spanish speaking
countries its scientific name Passiflora edulis
translates from the botanical Latin as the edible
passionfruit. The fruit of this straight species is typically
a dull purple. But the subspecies most familiar
to residents of Vieques (and Isla Grande, as well) is
P. e. flavicarpa, translating as “edible, yellow-fruited
passionflower” an accurate scientific description.
Passionfruit is a shallow-rooted tendriled vine with
deep-green, 3-lobed foliage. Its striking 3-inch blue
and white flowers are highly ornamental and fragrant
– only lasting a single day - and produce 3-inch nearly
round fruit upon pollination. The fruit ripens to pale
yellow and falls off the vine when entirely ripe. Older,
wrinkled specimens are wonderful to eat – and it is
these wrinkled specimens that are most often encountered
in Stateside gourmet markets. Simply cut the
globoid in half and scoop out the sweet-tart pulp with a
spoon – the edible seeds add a nice crunch.
The juicy pulp can be utilized to make sweet
sauces, gelatinized desserts, candies, ice creams and
sorbets, cake frostings and fillings, meringue-based
desserts, chiffon pies, custards, cold fruit soups and
cocktails.
The parcha even has medicinal uses; Puerto Rican
healers recommend eating large quantities of the
fruit to lower blood pressure. And there is currently
a revival by the European pharmaceutical industry
in the use of the glycoside passiflorine in cardiatic
cases. The pulp contains a fair amount of vitamin C,
carotenes, vitamin A, niacin, riboflavin, phosphorous
and potassium.
Passionfruit couldn’t be easier to grow; only
requiring full sun and a sturdy 7-foot wire support
upon which to climb. Regular watering will keep the
vine in continuous production. Propagation is usually
accomplished via seeds.
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