Mom’s Famous Fruit Cocktail

Most of us know fruit cocktail as the little diced fruit that comes out of a can. You can probably name the ingredients with your eyes closed: colored cherries, green grapes, peaches, pears and pineapple. Fruit cocktail was always my mother’s favorite way to end a meal--always out of a can and preferably Del Monte, the brand she discovered when she came to America. She mixed the canned fruit with diced fresh apples, oranges, strawberries and peaches and proudly called the end result dessert.

As children, opening the cans of fruit cocktail was our daily kitchen chore. We had an electric can opener that came with the house we were renting in Pasadena (it took us a while to figure out what it was for, but when we finally did we fought for our turns to open cans). Mother served her fruit cocktail in a big glass punch bowl she bought at the flea market. The bowl came with eight matching glasses.

The colored cherries disappeared before ever reaching the dinner table.

Mother made sure every grain of rice was eaten out of our rice bowls before she rewarded us with dessert. We never got tired of fruit cocktail even though she served it almost every day. Sometimes there were leftovers of bruised bananas and apples floating in the opaque syrup. It was my mother who took a spoon to finish them off. She then drank the syrup like a martini.

When my family was transferred back to Japan, the punch bowl along with the matching glasses got shipped back and arrived without casualty. In no time, Mother found canned fruit cocktail at the market, but she experienced two problems when serving the dessert.

First, her punch bowl was too big for a Japanese refrigerator. Whenever she made fruit cocktail, it had to stay out at room temperature. This was fine in Tokyo’s freezing winters but dangerous in the humid summer, when the fruit cocktail turned warm and strange bubbles appeared on the surface.

Second, she kept making the same recipe following the same portions even after her five children had moved out of the house. The big bowl of fruit cocktail would sit in the living room on the coffee table stoically waiting for a child to return from America or for a neighbor or relative to visit.

Once you set foot in my parents’ house, you could not leave without a helping or two of her famous fruit cocktail--now known across the Pacific. From thousands of miles away in Los Angeles, I pictured my parents’ coffee table sticky from the spill of heavy syrup, the bowl of browned warm fruit gurgling on the table and the reluctant guest eating my mother’s favorite dessert. Thus, I developed a love-hate relationship with fruit cocktail.

Last month, I flew back to Tokyo to visit my mother, who had been in the hospital. During the flight, I got my dinner tray and saw a miniature cup of Del Monte Fruit Cocktail. I picked up the cup and slowly pealed the seal. A colored cherry smiled at me like a long-lost friend. When I took a spoonful of fruit, suddenly I started to cry.

Sakai is author of “The Poetical Pursuit of Food” (Clarkson Potter, 1986).

Fruit Cocktail With Red Wine and Ginger Syrup

Active Work and Total Preparation Time: 25 minutes plus 30 minutes chilling

This is a zesty syrup that tastes delicious even on its own. Add the syrup at serving time so you can enjoy the natural color of the fruit before the red syrup makes them blush.

RED WINE AND GINGER SYRUP

Zest of 1 lemon

Zest of 1 orange

1 1/4 cups full-bodied red wine

1/2 cinnamon stick

5 tablespoons sugar

1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise

1/2 teaspoon grated ginger root

Place the lemon and orange zests, wine, cinnamon stick, sugar, vanilla bean and ginger in a small saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium and cook until the liquid is reduced by half, 10 minutes. Remove the syrup from the heat. Discard the cinnamon stick and strain the syrup to remove the zest. Let the syrup cool.

FRUIT

3 oranges

2 cups strawberries

1/4 pineapple

Sprigs of mint, for garnish

Using a sharp paring knife, peel and section the oranges, reserving the juice, removing the white pith and the membranes between the sections. Cut the sections in half and place in a large bowl. Add the juice to the syrup.

Hull and dice the strawberries into 1/2-inch pieces and add them to the bowl.

Peel and dice the pineapple into 1/2-inch or 3/4-inch pieces and add them to the bowl.

Chill the fruit for 30 minutes.

Divide the fruit among serving bowls and pour the syrup over the fruit at serving time. Garnish the fruit with the mint.

6 servings. Each serving: 132 calories; 5 mg sodium; 0 cholesterol; 0 fat; 0 saturated fat; 25 grams carbohydrates; 1 gram protein; 3.01 gram fiber.

Spring Fruit Cocktail

Active Work and Total Preparation Time: 25 minutes plus 30 minutes chilling

My sister, who is a pastry chef in Tokyo, gave this recipe to me. She likes to flavor her fruit cocktail with vanilla bean.

LIGHT SYRUP

2 tablespoons sugar

2 tablespoons orange, sage or lavender honey

1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise

Juice of 1 lemon

3/4 cup water

Heat the sugar, honey, vanilla bean, lemon juice and water in a saucepan. Bring to a boil for 1 minute and remove from heat. Let the syrup cool. Discard the bean or serve it with the syrup. It is chewy and delicious.

FRUIT

2 cups strawberries

1/4 pineapple

2 oranges

1 grapefruit

1 banana

Mint leaves and edible flowers, such as nasturtiums, for garnish

Hull the strawberries and dice them into 1/2-inch pieces. Set aside.

Peel and dice the pineapple into 1/2-inch pieces. Using a sharp paring knife, peel and section the oranges and grapefruit, reserving the juice and removing the white pith and the membranes between the sections. Slice sections in half. Place the pineapple, oranges and grapefruit into a bowl. Add the juice to the syrup, pour it over the fruit and stir slightly. Chill for 30 minutes.

Just before serving, peel and slice the banana into 1/2-inch rounds. Add the strawberries and banana to the bowl of fruit and stir once. Arrange the fruit in individual glass serving bowls. Garnish each serving with the mint and nasturtiums.

6 servings. Each serving: 87 calories; 38 mg sodium; 0 cholesterol; 0 fat; 0 saturated fat; 22 grams carbohydrates; 1 gram protein; 1.97 grams fiber.

Fruit Cocktail With Almond and Poppy Seed Syrup

Active Work and Total Preparation Time: 35 minutes plus 30 minutes chilling

This syrup is very fragrant and refreshing.

ALMOND AND POPPY SEED SYRUP

1/2 cup orange juice

1/4 cup water

2 tablespoons sugar

1 tablespoon orange or sage honey

1/4 teaspoon almond extract

1 tablespoon poppy seeds

Heat the orange juice, water, sugar and honey in a saucepan. Bring to a boil for 1 minute and remove from heat. Let the syrup cool. Add the poppy seeds.

FRUIT

2 cups strawberries

2 oranges

1 pink grapefruit

1/4 pineapple

3 kiwis

Mint sprigs, for garnish

Hull the strawberries and dice into 1/2-inch pieces. Set aside.

Using a sharp paring knife, peel and section the oranges and grapefruit, reserving the juice, and removing the white pith and the membranes between the sections. Cut the slices into thirds and place them into a bowl. Add the juice to the syrup.

Peel and dice the pineapple into 1/2-inch pieces. Peel and dice the kiwis into 1/2-inch pieces. Add the pineapple and kiwi to the bowl, then pour the syrup over the fruit. Stir lightly and chill the fruit for 30 minutes.

Just before serving, add the strawberries to the bowl of fruit.

Arrange the fruit with syrup in individual glass serving bowls. Garnish with mint.

6 servings. Each serving: 117 calories; 3 mg sodium; 0 cholesterol; 1 gram fat; 0 saturated fat; 27 grams carbohydrates; 2 grams protein; 2.98 grams fiber.

Peach and Nectarine Fruit Cocktail

Active Work and Total Preparation Time: 25 minutes

LIGHT SYRUP

2 tablespoons sugar

2 tablespoons orange, sage or lavender honey

1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise

Juice of 1 lemon

3/4 cup water

Heat the sugar, honey, vanilla bean, lemon juice and water in a saucepan. Bring to a boil for 1 minute and remove the pan from the heat. Let the syrup cool. Discard the bean or serve it with the syrup. It is chewy and delicious.

FRUIT

6 white peaches

6 nectarines

Mint sprigs, for garnish

Peel the peaches, discarding the pits, and dice them into 3/4-inch pieces. Dice the nectarines into 3/4-inch pieces.

Gently stir the peaches and nectarines into the syrup.

Divide the fruit among serving bowls and garnish each with mint sprigs.

6 servings. Each serving: 91 calories; 0 sodium; 0 cholesterol; 0 fat; 0 saturated fat; 23 grams carbohydrates; 1 gram protein; 0.61 gram fiber.