Lemon Plum?

Have any of you ever seen a fruit or vegetable at the local grocery store and wondered what in the heck it is? That happens to be all the time particularly when I'm at the farmers market.  I even ask the people that are working the cash register what a particular item is and sometimes they have no idea either.

That's what happened here, I was at Wal Mart and I saw this pretty little plum and knew I wanted to try it.  The name made me think it would taste like lemon, but it doesn't really.  I brought it home and looked it up online and learned that the one I had brought home was actually unripe.  They are bright yellowish in color when unripe. I needed to let mine sit for about a week...

Walla! My lemon plum has ripened!

I also learned that this is a rare fruit that comes from Chile and is usually only available in the United States in February, which is when I bought this one. When ready to eat they turn into this beautiful orangish color and can even go a deeper color like reddish purple.  I didn't let mine go that far, I was anxious to try it. To me this lemon plum tastes a lot like a regular plum.  They are sweet and juicy and lovely.  I would buy then again, but in the meantime I will just snack on the variety that we almost always have in the grocery store.  It doesn't hurt that to me these plums sort of resemble a heart.

Good find!