was cutting a guava today for my mum, and was peeling it, and i realised that the skin was much softer than it looked, which disconcerted me.
then i carved it open and saw this whole weird white hard centre with a million seeds embedded in it. i was frankly shocked, and didn't know what to do with it. it wasn't soft and scoopable like a papaya, or edible like dragonfruit, or even nicely compacted into a core like an apple. i had no idea the inside of a guava looked like this; it had always come to me sliced, with plum powder to dip at the side. so i called for help.
me "mama! what do i with the centre? it's weird and hard!"
"that's right, remove it."
huh? ya la but how?
so i hacked gingerly at it with the knife, then scraped and dug and prised out the little yellow seeds. and lopped off bits of fruitmeat with the centre. when i was done it had only a vague resemblance to the smooth crescents i normally ingest, which was quite depressing.
then to make it worse, eunice (my maid) came up and went:
"chambul"
me "huh?"
"ya, chambul. in indonesia we call it chambul."
me "ah, guava." *struggles to think of the chinese word for guava*
*gives up struggling and feels depressed*
this episode made me realise how little i knew about the guava, and i felt really disturbed. that i could eat a fruit for years and not know anything about it. heck, i don't even know its nationality! cutting fruits is really disillusioning. and guavas are disturbing fruits, really.
*sheesh, my talent for expounding on banality astounds me.
