When a bright-pink scaly exotic fruit lands in local supermarkets and fruit 'n veggie stores, sold at reasonable prices, you know that South African farmers have caught on to the value of the dragon fruit.
I had my first encounter with the "dragon" in Asia, lured by the attractive look. Cutting it exposes white flesh peppered with tiny black seeds. The flavour doesn't deliver the same excitement, being fairly bland.
The dragon fruit or pitahaya is a cactus that bears fruit within a year and can, in ideal conditions, fruit up to five times a year. The fruit are thornless and can be as big as 600g.
Indigenous to Central and South America, it grows well in tropical conditions and is being farmed in Limpopo.
It may be bland but the fruit packs a punch when it comes to nutrition - low in kilojoules with little or no cholesterol, the dragon fruit is high in fibre and loaded with antioxidants and rich in potassium and vitamin C.
Apart from eating the fruit - which, served ice cold with a squeeze of lemon, is delicious - it works well added to salads. These can be sweet or savoury as the neutral flavour works with both. It is also great added to smoothies and, packed into a fruit bowl, is a visual feast...