Missing Ingredient

At least twice a year, the carambola tree (star-fruit) bears fruits and January is one of the two months that these trees are loaded with the waxy star-shaped fruits that ripen to a bright yellow-orange color. The other month it has fruits is September. In Miami, this tree, if not grown commercially, is totally under-utilized. The fruits are left untouched and they just fall to the ground and wasting away. Despite that, these star-fruits sell quite expensively at grocery stores. This photo shows a mature tree that is quite large that lives in the fruit tree section of the Montgomery Botanical Center. I recently finished making a devilishly delicious fish soup and just realized I forgot that star-fruits, once added to the mix, make the fish soup taste even better. Rats! Need to do that again soon.