In all my life, i know grapes as grapes and in Mandarin (Chinese); it has always been 葡萄 (Putao) and nothing else! Therefore, i was amused (slightly offended) when a friend asked a few days ago if i am aware what a 葡萄 (Putao) was.
Turned out the grapes i have been buying from NTUC / Cold Storage supermarkets were not the same 葡萄 (Putao) that were ingrained in my almost 40-year-old brain! Shape-wise, 葡萄 (Putao) were rounder and larger although they do come in smaller sizes.
The differences were more than just the shape as the real 葡萄 (Putao) don't have the "crunch" texture when you bite them. Even though you can eat the skin, the recommended way is actually to peel off a tiny portion first.
And then suck out the "guts" using your mouth! To be honest, it was shocking for the first time when the entire pulp easily slipped out of the skin; just like when we eat the jelly from the little jelly cups!
Juicy pulp with a pleasurable sweetness that totally changed the erroneous definition i have had of 葡萄 (Putao)! Only problem is that they are not seedless although it's minimal effort to separate them in your mouth before spitting them out.
Another problem; too addictive! So what does the Chinese call those other grapes that are, by definition, not 葡萄 (Putao)? They are known as 提子 (Tizi); a foreign word i have never ever heard before in my life!
Thanks to Yit Oon for sharing the information, and the grapes!
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