We've had a bumper crop here in Puerto Rico, where it is known as "parcha". Elsewhere in the Caribbean you will hear it called maracuya or chinola, too. They are not ready to harvest until they fall off the vine. Even then, they are not at maximum sweetness. They decay from the outside, so let the fruit dessicate some; even collapse and turn black and maybe a little mold won't hurt (though not strictly necessary!).
Gardening
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Thank you! Yeah, I know it as maracuyΓ‘ also. It's my first time growing it so I appreciate the info about harvesting. I'm a little surprised that I should wait so long though π I guess I hadn't researched the harvesting portion yet.
I've only had it as an agua fresca drink, so I'm really looking forward to tasting just the fruit.
It is VERY sour. The pulp is full of black seeds. Some people put the pulp with sugar and some water in a blender and liquefy. Then strain it to remove the seed bits. My wife just puts some in a glass of water and lets it stand for a while; then she drinks it. But I do not like the whole pulp texture - the fruit-coated seeds have the consistency I imagine for tadpoles. This week we made banana-passionfruit breakfast scones and just left the seeds whole; they crunch easy; no particular taste to them.
Around here they sell the drink with seeds and all. It's very delicious.
The scones idea is super interesting π€