Summer Fruit Soup

Some time back, I was served a small cup of something called Summer Fruit Soup as an hors d'oeuvre at an artsy movie event. Love at first bite! Here's my approximation. It was great.

3 mangoes
1 small can (6 oz.) of pineapple juice
1 small can (8 oz.) of pineapple chunks
1 banana
2 or 3 limes
2 kiwi fruit (star fruit would be good too)
1/8 of a ripe cantaloupe (about half a pound with the rind)
(I didn't have blueberries, but they would have been nice too.)

Scrape the flesh out of the mango skins and off the pit into a blender, add the juice from the pineapple chunks and the 6-oz. can, the juice and pulp of the limes (pits removed, of course) and blend well. (A little more than 3 cups of liquid.)

Remove the cantaloupe rind and pits, cut the flesh into spoon-size bits.

Into a 2- or 3-quart bowl that can be covered, put 2/3 of the banana, sliced [1];

3/4 of the pineapple chunks, cut to half thickness [2]; all the kiwi, peeled, sliced, and quartered; the cantaloupe.

Mix gently. Pour the liquefied mango over the mix, and stir once or twice to put all surfaces in contact with it. Cover and refrigerate.

Serve cold, bowing to the diners in appreciation of their applause.

With fresh ripe pineapple available -- true ripeness being a rarity in these parts -- I would of course use that, modifying the mix accordingly. I call it a mix rather than a recipe because the real recipe is: "Use what you have". Maybe I'll base it on papaya next time.

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1. Slice all of the banana, and combine the unused part with the unused pineapple chunks. This is called the "Cook's Perquisite"; eat it. Enjoy!
2. If your knife isn't sharp enough to do this neatly, halve the pieces the other way.

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