Matrimony: The Fruit Salad

I didn’t hide my turned up nose when, on a recent outing, my friend asked if I wanted to get some rice pudding. She had planned on serving some at a dinner she was having the next day. You’ll love this rice pudding, she said. I wasn’t that sure.

When it comes to desserts, fresh fruits usually do it for me. But when I sampled the pineapple rice pudding, it reminded me of a dessert from my childhood. Its name was just on the tip of my tongue. What I did remember was that it was orange pulp and juice flavored with condensed milk.

I mentioned it to my friend and described it to the others at the dinner but no one knew which dessert I was trying to remember. On the way home, the name, Matrimony, popped into my head so I did a search on Google as soon as I got home.

Matrimony is a combination of orange and grapefruit pulp, star apple, which is sweetened with condensed milk. We never made ours with star apple but one of these days, I’d love to try it. Besides, I’ve never seen star apples here — they don’t have a very long shelf life.

Matrimony got its name from the marriage of the thick, sticky sweetness of the condensed milk and the tartness of the grapefruit and orange juices — its perfect counterpoint. I guess it’s from that combination of flavors that the dessert got its name.

I’ve had Matrimony on the brain for the last three weeks. Chatting with my cousin, I mentioned it to her. I don’t know it as Matrimony, she said, dismissively. It’s fruit salad. Talk about Matrimony led to us reminiscing about the elaborate Sunday meals we used to have that were typically accompanied by homemade desserts and fruit juices.

As I expected, I didn’t find star apples here but the oranges and grapefruits were enough. As soon as I finished chatting with my cousin, I set to work.

The most time-consuming part of making Matrimony is removing the pith. Once you finish that, all you have to do is fold in the condensed milk, stir and serve. It can be served chilled — perfect for those days that are especially warm. You can also garnish it with a little nutmeg. Here’s the recipe:

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