Z List: Favorite Fruits

I recently learned that there is a difference between "botanical fruits" and "culinary fruits". The only fruits getting consideration are "culinary" so we don't need to get into a discussion about whether or not tomatoes are a fruit. Can we be done with that, by the way? Tomatoes, although wonderful, are a vegetable.

Ten. Pear. When I started thinking about this list, I expected pears to come out much higher. Now don't get me wrong: I love a nice, juicy pear that you have to eat over a sink. But what else do you do with a pear? You don't eat it on cereal or with ice cream. There's no market for pear juice. And it's going to lose 9 out of 10 times head to head against an apple or a peach.

Nine. Orange. You can't have a list without the orange, partially due to orange juice, the queen of all fruit juices. I do love a good orange, but it's hard to rank it higher because it's so hard to find a good one. Most end up being too bland or pulpy so I usually don't bother. If I could eat a good orange every day they would probably be much higher. But until I move to citrus country. . .

Eight. Banana. They are very portable and widely available, but one day they are too green and the next too brown, because you missed the 12-hour window of perfectness. Bananas are at their best as part of something else: banana bread, banana split, banana cream pie, banana in your cereal or your fruit salad. And have you ever heard anyone say, wow, that was the best banana I ever had? Nope. They're all about the same. Maybe it's different if you live close to the Equator.

Seven. Pineapple. A really good pineapple is quite the treat. The only problem is the amount of cutting you need to do and the fact that your mouth hurts if you eat too much. Some cursory research told me that it's because pineapple contains bromelain, an protein-digesting enzyme. So the bromelain actually digests the soft skin inside your mouth. Solution? Grill it, which neutralizes the bromelain and is another great way to enjoy pineapple.

Six. Strawberry. Like the banana, strawberries seem to be best as a complement. Strawberry shortcake. Strawberry milkshake. Strawberry jam. Chocolate-covered strawberries. Special K with red berries. But does anyone sit down to eat a bowl of strawberries? Not really. One or two and I've usually had enough.

Five. Cantaloupe. My favorite of the melons. More flavor than the honeydew and easier to deal with than the watermelon. Great texture, taste, and color. Scooping out the seeds in the middle is very satisfying. Plus I like the ridgy rind, which makes it easy to hold in one hand like a mini-basketball. Although the surface of a cantaloupe is apparently a known carrier of salmonella and other bacteria. So...wash before you cut I guess.

Four. Cherry. Even with the seed, it's like 10x better than its bite-size rival, the grape. The seed is not a huge problem for me. Just eat it and spit out the seed when you're done. I don't know if I'll ever make a favorite ice cream list, but if I did, the black cherry variety would come out on top. Plus, what is always the best flavor of any medicine? It's cherry.

Three. Apples. I never expected apples to come out so high, partially due to all the bad ones I've eaten outside of apple season. But the apple is possibly the most versatile of all fruits. Apple pie. Apple juice. Apple cider. Applesauce. Carmel apple. Apple crisp. Candy apple. Apple butter. Apple fritter. Put it on your fruit salad, in your pancakes, or serve it with peanut butter. I sound like the shrimp guy on Forest Gump.

Two. Blueberry. I've really been on a blueberry thing lately. I have a bowl of blueberries with vanilla yogurt and granola and it is super good. An even better breakfast though, is the blueberry pancake. I love how it breaks open and spreads its warm berry goodness. Same effect with the blueberry muffin. Also I prefer the Oregon Blueberry shake at Good Times. I have nothing negative to say about the blueberry. It's what all berries should aspire to be.

One. Peach. If you put the best version of every one of these fruits out on a table, I'm grabbing the peach. That's the test. Also, peach cobbler > apple crisp and peaches 'n cream > strawberries 'n cream. I realize it's much easier to acquire fresh peaches in Colorado than some of the other fruits on the list, so I'm probably a little biased in that respect, but until the citrus growers association ships me a crate of fresh oranges FedEx in an attempt to change my mind, I'll just sit and eat my peaches.