Maypop

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About Maypop
Wikipedia Article About Maypop on Wikipedia

Maypop (Passiflora incarnata), also known as Purple passionflower, is a fast growing perennial vine with climbing or trailing stems. A member of the passionflower genus Passiflora, the Maypop has large, intricate flowers with prominant styles and stamens. One of the hardiest species of passionflower, it is a common wildflower in the southern United States.

The stems can be smooth or pubescent; they are long and trailing, possessing many tendrils. Leaves are alternate and palmately 3-lobed, measuring from 6-15 cm. They have two characteristic glands at the base of the blade on the petiole. Flowers have five bluish-white petals. They exhibit a white and purple corona, a structure of fine appendages between the petals and corolla. The large flower is typically arranged in a ring above the petals and sepals. They are pollinated by insects such as bumblebees, and are self-sterile.

The fleshy fruit, also in itself called a Maypop, is an oval yellowish berry about the size of a hen egg; it is green at first, but then becomes orange as it matures. In this species, the yellow mucilage around the seeds of the fruit is sweet and edible, however it is quite seedy and mostly benefits wildlife. As with other passifloras, it is the larval food of a number of butterfly species.

Buying Maypop
As with any fruit, you can get ridiculously expensive Maypops or ordinary decently priced ones. Depending on what type of dish you are preparing, you might want to adjust your cooking budget to the type of Maypops you need. In general, the cost of Maypops is perfectly acceptable by any standards and they are often considered some of the most accessible fruits you can use in your fruit salads or deserts. Depending on different cuisines and regions of the world, Maypops may be considered a common fruit or a delicacy. Most European countries, for example, don’t see Maypops as an expensive and hard-to-get fruit, bur some African countries might rarely use them in their traditional dishes. Although in extreme cases Maypops will not be available at all, because of imports, many countries that don’t traditionally grow them always have a full and fresh supply of Maypops on the fruit market.

Preparing Maypop
One of the most important elements that define any fruit preparation method today involves the cooking time. The faster you can cook a certain fruit, the more popular it is, it seems. Maypops are mostly used for filling for cakes and pastry items, but there are diverse ways of preparing them. Compotes using this fruit are often very popular in many cuisines and the nutritious values of Maypops are often saved through smart preservation techniques. While in most cases, preparing Maypops for a dessert or a drink will not take more than a few minutes, you can also boil them and use them as such in various main meals and desserts. When boiling, you should also take into consideration the particular type of Maypop you are using, as some are firmer than others and take longer to prepare.

Cooking Maypop
There are so many ways in which you can sue Maypops in your culinary arts. Maypop preparation methods and dish types differ from one region to another, and many people are experiencing this fruit in a totally different way than what they were used to when they taste a national cuisine dish belonging to another country. Most of the dishes containing Maypops are desserts and snacks, but some countries also use them in combination with salty items such as meat or Fruits. Maypops are widely appreciated in many national cuisines, and this is clearly seen in the diversity of methods that chefs all over the world created for their preparation.

Maypop Recipes
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