Late-Bearing Longans, the Perfect Fall Fruit

Sitting on my desk right now is a bowl of longans that I picked up at Viet Wah last night ($2.99 a pound). The longan season normally begins in August, but a few cultivars can be harvested even later than that. Their mellow, almost boozy flavor is quintessentially autumnal.

Just like with lychees, when you unwrap the papery, almost scaly skin you find a smooth seed enrobed in a transparent, gelatinous fruit (there's one peeled longan in the bowl -- and apparently, if you slice into the fruit, it looks like a dragon's eye). But where lychees have a pronounced rosewater fragrance, longans taste like they've been marinated in Frangelico, pear juice, and honey. I can imagine eating them with pumpkin spice cake, or hot buttered rum, or mulled cider, or toasted almonds and hazelnuts. Pick up a bag before they're done for the season.