J253: Jujube

One of my favorite words is jejune, so finding a new food grown by my favorite fruit tree farm family is named jujube is a kick. (Okay, the alliteration was just a goof.) But, how sweet is this family to give this to me for 1/2 price because they know I write about local foods by the alphabet and that I am low income. So very special.

So with jejune meaning of boring, dull, insipid . . . what will I think of jujube? Will this mean no nutritional value?

The farmer told me that there was a good article by CNN’s Dr. Sanjay Gupta – but I can’t make myself link to emm ess emm™. Sorry, you are on your own. Ever since I heard Michael Moore challenge Wolf Blitzer about Gupta’s lies about Moore’s movie SiCKO, I don’t think Gupta (or CNN) has any credibility.

Ironically, after I just felt my blood pressure rise just conjuring up these corporate media stenographers, I get to report that the jujube fruit claims to relieve stress. Okay, let me just say it. This push reminds me of the marketing blitzkrieg for the pomegranate juice, blueberries as anti-oxidant, beta carotein bandwagons, gogi berry, green tea and other magical food. This is one area I used to relish – all of the perfect foods conversations. But, I don’t think that way now. More than refuting the science, though I probably could without even doing research, I am treating the whole marketing hoopla as a distraction. Google and see the zillions of products and "quasai-science" claims.

The basics – without the commercial product endorsements from Wikipedia.

The tree tolerates a wide range of temperatures and rainfall, though it requires hot summers and sufficient water for acceptable fruiting. Unlike most of the other species in the genus, it tolerates fairly cold winters, surviving temperatures down to about -15°C. This enables the jujube to grow in desert habitats, provided there is access to underground water through the summer. Virtually no temperature seems to be too high in summertime. [skip] . . . plantings in North America currently are not affected by any pests or diseases.

Yea resilience! This is my kind of fruit. I will need to add an update if I find I become super mellow or find any startling new taste sensation. I know I love it already for its resilience and native characteristics.

Update: I forgot to report back. It's funny but the taste is jejune. It is mild, and forgetable. I eat it in my oatmeal, in salads and in an omelette. It is something I could eat every week to give my tastebuds that nudge of sweetness I prefer over that syrup-sweetness of so many fruits.