Choosing and eating dragon fruit

Dragon fruit (pitaya) is a cactus fruit, and choosing it is as distinctive as it looks. The difference in flavour between a well-chosen fruit and one picked early is considerable.

There are two main types. The white-fleshed variety is fresher and lower in acid, with restrained sweetness. The red-fleshed variety is markedly sweeter, with a far more intense colour.

What to look for

• The skin should be a lively pink-red, without large dull patches.
• It should give slightly when pressed in the palm; rock-hard fruit is not ripe yet.
• Tips of the scales drying and browning slightly is a sign of ripeness, not a defect.
• Fruit that is very soft, weeping or wrinkled is past its best.

Eating it is simple: halve it and spoon it straight out. The skin is not eaten. You can dice it into yoghurt, or use frozen chunks as a smoothie-bowl base — the red-fleshed type lends a natural magenta colour. Served chilled, its aroma reads more clearly.