The Lychee

Our quest to try exotic fruits brought us to a dingy Chinese supermarket in Chinatown called C-Mart. Among the dozens of unfamiliar foods, the Lychee stood out to us. We'd heard it described favorably before by a Westerner so, despite the price, we picked up a bag. Most notable was their rough outer rind which, admittedly, was not very appealing. The small fruits emitted a slight sweet floral aroma that was not familiar to us. Upon opening the fruits, the smell was intensified and a soft milky-white flesh was exposed. The texture certainly did not impress upon us fondly but we continued. I cut up a small piece and put it into my mouth. The texture was as unpleasant as predicted but not prohibitively bad. The taste was sweet and somewhat pleasant, with obvious floral tones. Still something about it was not very appetizing and I only made it through a few bites. I suspect it was the unfamiliarity with the taste and texture that caused this distaste. Overall, we couldn't say that the taste was unpleasant per se, but it is certainly not something we would pay money to eat again. We found them to be much more worth their cost as projectiles rather than food.

-Anthony