Liliko'i is the Hawaiian word for "passion fruit." Li is string that is used to tie something together, liko is the word meaning "to spring forth leaves." My friend Andy discovered lilikoi jelly when he visited Hawaii last, and has been obsessed ever since. It's a popular flavor with ice cream, "shave ice" (aka snowballs), drinks, desserts, and pretty much anything sweet and yummy. Now, what I just learned is the reason it's actually called passion fruit. Of course, I originally thought that it was probably some sort of aphrodisiac and had magical powers in early Hawaiian Kingdom days. But was I interested to learn that it's actually named so for the passion of Christ! Wikipedia gives the following break-down:- The pointed tips of the leaves were taken to represent the Holy Lance.
- The tendrils represent the whips used in the Flagellation of Christ.
- The ten petals and sepals represent the ten faithful apostles (less St. Peter the denier and Judas Iscariot the betrayer).
- The flower's radial filaments, which can number more than a hundred and vary from flower to flower, represent the Crown of Thorns.
- The chalice-shaped ovary with its receptacle represents a hammer or the Holy Grail
- The 3 stigmata represent the 3 nails and the 5 anthers below them the 5 wounds (four by the nails and one by the lance).
- The blue and white colors of many species' flowers represent Heaven and Purity.
- The flower has been given names related to this symbolism throughout Europe since that time. In Spain, it is known as espina de Cristo ("Christ's Thorn"). Old German names[11] are Christus-Krone ("Christ's Crown"), Christus-Strauss ("Christ's Bouquet"[12]), Dorn-Krone ("Crown of Thorns"), Jesus-Leiden ("Jesus' Passion"), Marter ("Passion"[13]) or Muttergottes-Stern ("Mother of God's Star"[14]).
And what a beautiful flower it is! I recently ate lilikoi with my friend Lillian for the first time. She was born and raised in Hawaii and had never had it straight from the fruit. It's full of seeds and thus a bit hard to separate from the pulp, and the ones we had were pretty tart. What work it must take for anyone to strain the good stuff and make anything from it! I would have to say, though, I do believe it's worth it.Copyright 2009 Olivia R. King
3 comments:
Wow, that flower is gorgeous! Did you take with you rockin' camera?
Nope, I actually got the photo from the web. But isn't that one of the prettiest flowers ever? AND it yields a delicious fruit! Love it!!!! Oh, Gracie, how I wish you could try Bubbies Ice Cream here. Maybe I'll find some on the East Coast in time for our anniversary next year ;)
oh my goodness. beautiful! making me hungry. we were just talking about tropical fruits and i hadn't thought of passion fruit.
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