Fruits

🇹🇷Eastern Anatolia, Turkey

Malatya Kayısısı

Sun-dried apricots of the Malatya region, amber to deep brown, intensely sweet with a faint tart skin — Turkey's flagship dried fruit and a protected designation.

🇪🇸Balearic Islands, Spain

Mallorca Olives

Aceituna de Mallorca

Mallorca Olives are Mallorquina table olives sold whole green, cracked green, or naturally black, with a firm bite and gently bitter, briny flavour.

🇮🇩Indonesia

Mangosteen

Manggis

Queen of fruits, sweet-tangy white segments in purple rind, deep purple rind with juicy white segments and sweet-tart balance, a legendary Malaysian tropical fruit

🇵🇬Papua New Guinea

Marita

Marita is the bright orange pandanus fruit of the PNG Highlands, eaten ripe or mashed into a thick fruit preparation; its oily pulp is intensely coloured and fragrant.

🇿🇦South Africa

Marula Fruit

Marula

A South African wild fruit from the marula tree, sweet and tangy, used in Amarula and fermented drinks

🇳🇨New Caledonia

Maré Avocado

Avocat de Maré

Maré avocado; a specialty of the Loyalty Islands; buttery avocado from the island of Maré; a prized local product; a feature of island cuisine; a versatile, creamy fruit

🇲🇼Malawi

Masau

Ziziphus mauritiana, a wild jujube fruit called masau in Malawi; small, crisp, and sweet-to-subacid, eaten fresh or processed into chips, powder, fruit leather, and beverages.

🇿🇼Zimbabwe

Masau

Small jujube-like fruit from the Zambezi valley, eaten fresh, dried, or fermented into a strong local brew during the Muzeze festival.

🇲🇼Malawi

Masuku

Uapaca kirkiana, an indigenous wild loquat with yellow-brown, pear-flavoured fruit; eaten fresh and used to make a traditional wine and opaque beer in Malawi.

🇿🇼Zimbabwe

Matamba

Monkey orange, a hard green-shelled fruit that is cracked open to a tart, seedy pulp eaten raw or cooked down with sugar.

🇿🇼Zimbabwe

Matohwe

The snot apple: a hard brown pod whose fibrous pulp is chewed and sucked, slippery and faintly sweet-sour.

🇺🇬Uganda

Matooke

Green cooking bananas peeled, wrapped in their own leaves and steamed for hours over a pot until they turn soft and pale yellow, then mashed in the bundle.

🇲🇷Adrar-Tagant (Date Oases / Taguella), Mauritania

Mauritanian Dates

Tamr

Dates grown in the oasis regions of Adrar, Tagant, Assaba, and Hodh; over 100 varieties harvested during the Guetna season (July–September); a staple energy food, eaten fresh, dried, or pressed into skins as paste for long-term storage; the date palm is central to oasis agriculture and Mauritanian hospitality.

🇲🇺Mauritius

Mauritian Lychee

Litchi

Lychees from the island's short December-to-January crop, sold in bunches on the branch at the roadside.

🇿🇼Zimbabwe

Mazhanje

Sugar plum, a brown-skinned wild fruit of the miombo woodland with sticky orange flesh tasting of dried apricot.

🇮🇱Israel

Medjool Dates

תמר מג'הול

Medjool dates originated in Morocco’s Tafilalt oasis and are now cultivated in the Jordan Valley and around the Dead Sea, where large soft fruits ripen in autumn.

🇫🇷Grand Est, France

Mirabelle Plum

Mirabelle

Small sweet yellow plum from Lorraine, used in tarts and eau-de-vie.

🇦🇷Argentina

Mistol

A small, sweet, brown fruit from the mistol tree of the Argentine northwest, eaten fresh or dried for bolanchao. A pre-Hispanic food of the Chaco region.

🇷🇼Rwanda

Mizuzu

Ripe plantain slices deep-fried until golden and crisp, served as a sweet street snack; sometimes plated with a scoop of vanilla ice cream in tourist restaurants; sold at vendors and stalls across Rwanda.

🇱🇺Luxembourg Moselle, Luxembourg

Moselle Mirabelle

Mirabelle

Golden mirabelle plums grown along the Moselle, an EU-protected Luxembourgish speciality.

🇲🇾Kelantan, Malaysia

Musang King

Premium durian variety from Pahang, thick creamy flesh with intense flavor and bitter-sweet balance, the most prized durian cultivar.

🇯🇲Jamaica

Naseberry

Brown-skinned fruit with grainy, malty brown flesh tasting of brown sugar and pear, eaten when it gives to a thumb.

🇰🇭Cambodia

Num Chak Chol

នំចាក់ចុល

Sweet made from sugar palm fruit (chak) with coconut milk and palm sugar, served cold.

🇵🇬Papua New Guinea

Okari

Okari is a PNG tree nut roasted or cooked into a rich paste, with a firm, oily bite and a flavour like a mild almond.

🇸🇹Sao Tome and Principe

Ossame

Óssame

Óssame is a red, bulbous fruit unique to Sao Tome and Principe; used in some versions of calulu; a local ingredient that adds color and flavor to the national dish; a fruit that is little known outside the islands; a unique Santomean ingredient; the red fruit of the islands.

🇯🇲Jamaica

Otaheite Apple

Deep crimson pear-shaped fruit with crisp white flesh, mildly sweet and mostly water, in season around Easter.

🇵🇪Peru

Pacay

A long Andean fruit with cottony sweet pulp around large black seeds.

🇵🇪Arequipa, Peru

Papaya Arequipeña

Small highland papaya from southern Peru, distinct from the large tropical fruit.

🇦🇷Mendoza, Argentina

Pasas de Uva Mendocinas

Raisins from Mendoza, dried grapes from Argentina's wine country, used in locro, carbonada, and desserts. A staple ingredient of the Cuyo and national cuisine.

🇧🇷Brazil

Passion fruit

Maracudja

Passion fruit, the seedy aromatic fruit of a climbing vine native to South America, ubiquitous in Brazilian juices, mousses and desserts.

🇧🇷Goiás, Brazil

Pequi

A spiky, golden-yellow Brazilian fruit from the cerrado, with a rich, buttery, slightly resinous flesh clinging to a large seed. Used in rice, chicken and stews.

🇵🇭Philippines

Philippine Mango

Mangga

The world-renowned Philippine mango (Carabao variety), known for its exceptional sweetness, juicy texture, and no fibers.

🇲🇬Madagascar

Pibasy

Loquats grown in the highlands, sold in the short spring season in small orange bunches.

🇨🇭Fribourg, Switzerland

Poire à Botzi

Protected small Fribourg pear traditionally served cooked with festive meat dishes.

🇲🇬Madagascar

Pok-Pok

Voanantsindrana

A small orange physalis fruit sold in its papery husk, tart and sweet at once.

🇩🇴Dominican Republic

Pomarrosa

A Dominican tropical fruit (rose apple) with pale pink, crisp, aromatic flesh, eaten fresh. A lowland fruit, sweet and floral, with a rose-like aroma.