Kiwi Berry

I discovered Kiwi Berries last week! They're soft-skinned, hairless tiny versions of Kiwi Fruit, that you can just pop into your mouth directly, which most people don't do with the big hairy ones. I have actually seen friends just bite right into a regular kiwi, and enjoy eating the hairy skin and all. As a result, I've tried it myself, and it is indeed not as itchy and irritating as one might guess from appearances. But I still went back to just eating the flesh after that. With Kiwi Berries, you can, just like the marketing blurbs say, eat them like grapes. I tend to pluck that tiny bit of stem off them, so I think it's more like eating strawberries than grapes. They're sweet, flavourful, and addictive. I saw them in the little corner independent grocery store near my place, and decided to try them, but I wasn't expecting them to be as wonderfully sweet as they were. I first thought that they were "baby kiwis," but of course that doesn't make any sense, as fruit in general doesn't get sweet until they mature, whereas a baby vegetable like a zucchini is wonderfully sweet and tender. But then again, zucchini and other squash ARE the fruit part of the plant, bearing the seeds. They just have the capacity to grow huge and unsweet. Kiwi Berries are actually a marketing name for another species of fruit closely related to kiwi fruit that is called hardy kiwi (Actinidia arguta), so this is as big as they get, and they grow in big, adorable bunches on the vine.

I can see them hitting the local fancy dessert garnish scene:
"What's this?"
"Oh that's a kiwi berry. Kiwi berries are the new gooseberry."

But I'm sure there will always be a place for the original kiwi fruit. For one thing, they have always reminded me of some particular private parts, perhaps like peaches, mangoes, and bananas to some. You do lose that pleasant body part association with these tiny, hairless ones. But I've had that conversation with a few people, and maybe this is one of those "is it just me?" things. But there's definitely a general fruit - body part association that doesn't happen, say, with dairy products. Um, wait a second...I mean, grain products (please don't write me to tell me about the history of sexual imagery in grain products. I am happy to be unaware, thank you.). For another thing, it's just kind of fun to scoop the flesh out of kiwi halves, kind of like eating soft-boiled eggs out of the shell. And also, I have no idea how expensive those kiwi berries were. I like my grocer, and I just trusted that it couldn't be too bad. But I suspect that I probably could have bought a lot of kiwi fruit for the same price. But certainly worth the splurge, if there was one. Anyway, have fun with your fruit...