By Kathleen Furore
Ask Chris Fernandez, corporate executive chef for Red Mesa Restaurant Group in St. Petersburg, Florida, about the role tropical fruit plays on the menus he creates for the group’s Red Mesa Cantina, Red Mesa Mercado and Red Mesa Restaurant, and he is quick to respond.
“We use all year around as much tropical fruit as we can to make margaritas, sangrias, aguas frescas and salsas using mangos, guava, pitaya, passionfruit, star fruit and granada,” says Fernandez, who recently featured Ceviche Corvina with star fruit, ruby red grapefruit, chicharron and avocado on the specials’ menu at Red Mesa Cantina.
Plantains are also a go-to in dishes like Red Mesa Restaurant’s Cuban style Palomilla Steak served with sweet plantains and tamarind aioli, and Red Mesa Mercado’s popular Plantain Bowl.
“In the summer, our Plantain Bowl at Mercado sells extremely well since it is all vegetarian friendly,” he says of the dish made with plantains, black bean corn salsa, rice, avocado slices and mango salsa.
With all the options chefs can turn to, it’s easy to transform tropical fruit into favorite dishes for every section of the menu. Take the menu at Chicago’s El Solazo: Diners there can start with an appetizer of Grilled Pineapple Guacamole, feast on an entrée of Filete de Pescado with Pico de Piña, then finish the meal with a Chocolate Tres Leches accompanied by Guava Gelato.
“Those dishes are absolutely popular with our guests,” reports owner Pepe Barajas, who says new dishes like a passionfruit ceviche and strawberry guacamole are on tap for the summer menu. “We love using tropical, sweet fruits that pair so well with chile peppers. The flavor profile of sweet and spicy is great for summer! Our customers also love our al pastor with charred pineapple.” Fernandez also likes combining sweet and spicy flavors, which he does in his Passion Fruit and Habanero Chile Butter Sauce.
Connecting With Consumers
Customers across the board are embracing exotic and tropical fruit and unique fruit flavors, according to “Exotic Fruit Flavor Profiles - 2022 Trend Bite” report from McCormick FONA, which shows that 57 percent of U.S. fruit consumers show interest in exotic fresh fruits, while 66 percent of consumers are eating a greater variety of ethnic foods today, FONA reports. What’s fueling the trend? According to FONA:
• More consumers are thinking and acting like foodies, providing opportunity for colorful dishes and adventurous taste experiences.
• Increasingly adventurous American palates are driving desire for authentic dishes and ethnic cuisine.
• Experimentation with flavor while at home during COVID-19 has created openness to new flavors.
• Trendy and fun opportunities for social media inspire innovation. Case in point: The FONA report tracked 175.6M views on TikTok with the hashtag #exoticfruit and 194k posts on Instagram.
“In addition, many consumers believe exotic and tropical fruit flavors have perceived health benefits like immune system health, relaxation and more,” information from FONA says.
Supply Chain Challenges
As popular as these fruits have become, and as much as chefs want to incorporate them into their menus, supply chain issues can pose problems.
“Lately we have seen shortages on product and price increases due to labor shortage in the last couple months,” Fernandez says. “We work very hard with our local produce vendors to make sure we have our product on hand most of the time and communicate with them when there are changes. When this happens, we let our customer know that we will be having menu changes and substitutions for a short period of time and constantly we keep in communication with staff to make sure everyone is aware of the issue.”
Timing also can be a concern, Barajas notes.
“Because of seasonality and transitioning from seasons, it takes time to find certain tropical fruits that are ripe enough to use in the dishes,” he says. “We will just use fruits that are generally in season until they become
available.”
That approach also helps manage things from a cost perspective, he adds.
“Fruits that are always readily available most of the year will keep prices down,” Barajas says. “For us this includes pineapples, oranges, apples and strawberries to name a few.”
Sidebar: Don’t Let Seeds Go To Waste
Mangos are among the most popular fruits used in Mexican and Latin restaurant kitchens. Don’t let the seeds from those mangos go to waste! As the National Mango Board notes, there are a variety of uses for mango seeds, especially when there’s “lots of tasty fruit still hanging on to the seed.”
Here are just a few examples of how to turn seeds into something special in your restaurant kitchen or behind the bar:
• Make mole. One example is a traditional Mexican mole made by simmering the sauce with mango seeds. The sauce is featured in Chicken with Mango Mole and Pepitas, a recipe The Culinary Institute of American created for the National Mango Board. (See the recipe at bit.ly/Chicken_Mango_2022.)
• Create infused alcohol or shrubs. These are great for bar drinks! Mango seed-infused vodka, for example, is the secret ingredient in the National Mango Board’s The Secret of the Tropics Cocktail. (See the recipe by clicking here.)
• Make syrup. Crespo Organic recommends using mango pits to make Mango Pit Syrup, a tropical-perfumed simple syrup to use in cocktails, drinks, teas and sparkling water. (See the recipe at bit.ly/Mango_Pit.)
Kathleen Furore is the editor of el Restaurante. Reach her at kfurore@restmex.com.