Reluctantly, I’ll take oranges, pomegranates, and lemons.
Since I grow my own oranges* and pomegranates I’ll have to include them, but I really prefer grapefruit to orange for fresh eating. My inlaws provide us with an annual supply of peaches and lemons, but I can’t imagine cooking for five years without lemon, so I guess the peaches are out.
*they are really satsumas, a variety of mandarin, but I don’t expect the OP to cover everything exactly, although it appears some people do
I’m a bit unusual in that the easiest for me to do without would be apples. I consume large quantities of everything else on the list.
And God Save the King! For allowing the wine exemption. If I’m pickled most of the time I won’t miss fruit as much.
But what we really need is a revolution. Off with his head! (with a banana machete)
Peaches and nectarines (maybe even apricots) should be the same category. So should Lemons and Limes. It skews it to have people choosing their favorite cooking ingredient as opposed to fruit. So let them have both.
Honeydew is not on the list. Inexplicable.
If my top 3 are Banana, Pineapple and the orange group my second 3 would be:
Watermelon
Peaches
Honeydew
That leaves Cherries off, but they can be iffy and gamey, too sweet, etc etc.
This is not even to get into the gamble that some of these represent in the store. If they aren’t good it’s just off.
You can make strawberry jam without either lemon juice or fruit pectin. There are other pectins; and there’s the just-cook-it-down method. I’ve seen, and made, plenty of strawberry jam with no lemon juice.
I must inform the King of Fruit that today I’ve had an apple, a banana, 1/4 of a cantaloupe, a peach, some cherries, and some blueberries. Long live the revolution!
Yeah, I already mentioned my slight disdain for apples, and even though I eat a fair number of bananas, they would be far down on my list of favorites.
That still doesn’t mean I’m willing to live without them, O mighty King of Fruit. Have you been sleeping with one eye open? The banana machete is now sharpened(though some argued to leave it dull), now we just need to fix a wheel on the tumbrel.
Limes - for the reasons others have mentioned
Papaya - because they’re amazing
Plantains - you’ll have pry my fried plantains from my cold dead hands. (except there won’t be any in my hands, i will have eaten it all)
I understand the banana-meh. But some of the non-Cavendish varieties are totally sublime (e.g. the “apple-bananas” in Hawaii). The latter is smaller and I think does not transport as well, but has more striking and intense banana flavor, earning my vote.
I selected mango since they are easy to find and if ripened well, are just killer. Many varieties to choose from, and even grocery store mangoes and those at Costco can be awesome.
Pineapple. What can I say. Slicing into a good pineapple is one of the simple pleasures in life that activates many senses, and the fruit has many uses besides being chilled and eaten straight.
No hate on the other choices - I love almost all fruits.
