FRUIT OPINIONS!
Holy crap. This strip’s been up for 800 seconds and it’s already the most controversial thing I’ve ever written, beating out comics about cunnilingus, the Obama endorsement, and my making 4chan tiny on the map of the internet. It turns out everyone and their mother has a fruit opinion, and every one of those opinions is now in my inbox.
Just remember to keep some perspective. If you think watermelon is delicious, and I think it’s only so-so, the important thing is that we each find something we like. Who’s to say whose taste is right?
I am. You are wrong; watermelon is overrated.
Also, I have never liked cantaloupe. It brings down otherwise tasty fruit salads. There, I said it.
February 25th, 2008 at 1:27 am
But you put peach high and mighty.
I LOVE PEACHES. (:
February 25th, 2008 at 1:28 am
Yeah, screw cantaloupe.
I like your placing of lemons.
February 25th, 2008 at 1:29 am
Grapes ftw.
February 25th, 2008 at 1:30 am
Why do you hate citrus so much?
February 25th, 2008 at 1:30 am
Does the chart count washing the fruit on the difficulty scale?
Example: Bananas don’t need washing, but grapes do. So bananas should be set easier on the chart, correct?
February 25th, 2008 at 1:31 am
You put tomatoes on there just so you can call out the fools who say “Tomatoes aren’t fruit!”, didn’t you? Because I totally would’ve.
Also, you clearly just don’t like citrus. Which makes you a heathen.
(DISCLAIMER: All statements in this message are made with humorous intent. I do not actually think you are a heathen. Much.)
February 25th, 2008 at 1:31 am
I agree with ll. You screwed oranges on your map!
February 25th, 2008 at 1:32 am
You have oranges pretty low, but what about Clementines? They’re amazing!
February 25th, 2008 at 1:33 am
I thought it was rather splendid over all - nice placement of the grapefruit in particular and the peaches. Cantaloupe is dreary.
Did you know that the coconut is technically a “fibrous drupe”?
February 25th, 2008 at 1:33 am
What kinds of apples have you tried? Because they’re all over the place on the tasty scale. For me, it’s a macintosh or it’s not an apple. Red delicious apples only half live up to their name.
February 25th, 2008 at 1:33 am
Right. I’m obviously a pervert.
I read this blag before I read the comic (they both showed up at the same time in the RSS reader). So I looked at the comic thinking “controversy” and “cunnilingus”. The title of the comic is “fuck grapefruit”. So you can probably imagine what I thought “difficult” and “easy” pertained to. Before I realised what was actually meant by the comic, I found myself thinking “how can fucking blueberries be *easy*”?
February 25th, 2008 at 1:34 am
Grapefruit? Fuck pomegranate.
February 25th, 2008 at 1:34 am
finally! another soul that dos not like tomatoes and i thought i was alone on that fact but pomegranates oranges and bananas need to be on the tasty side and pears on the untasty.
eh to each his own i guess.
but seriously how exactly are oranges difficult?
February 25th, 2008 at 1:34 am
What the fuck is a cantaloupe ? Is that a crazy American name for something normal ?
February 25th, 2008 at 1:35 am
I want to share my fruit opinion too!
February 25th, 2008 at 1:35 am
How dare you miss out on the fruits from the East! Longnan, Lychee, Durian, Coconut!
February 25th, 2008 at 1:35 am
The proper tool for coconuts is a machete, which is the only reason people eat them. Think of it as that trick form home-ec where you hollow out a grapefruit, but you get to use a fucking machete.
February 25th, 2008 at 1:35 am
You’re wrong. Sometimes you’re write, this time you’re wrong. Sadly. To say nothing about any of your other selections, tomatoes need to be in quadrant I, not IV.
February 25th, 2008 at 1:35 am
And you’re right, pomegranates are fucking difficult, especially when, like me, you don’t eat the seeds. Pips. WHATEVER. ><
February 25th, 2008 at 1:35 am
How is a peach tastier than strawberries? Plus, cherries are definately more difficult than peaches; instead of dealing with one large pit, you have to cope with a dozen small ones!
I definately see the potential for a really neat AJAX voting graph here. Visitors could drag the fruit to where they feel it best belongs, then compare their results with a mass average! fruitgraph.com! It is The Web 2.0
February 25th, 2008 at 1:35 am
You should have made an applet or something, so that everyone can make his (or her) own map and put it on his (or her) wobsite. This way you won’t get anything else than opinions.
PS: I totally don’t agree with your placing of seeded grapes and oranges. I think they should be exactly the other way round. And coconut is totally worth the work.
February 25th, 2008 at 1:36 am
Dude! Ever been to Hawaii? They open coconuts in 5 seconds over there!
February 25th, 2008 at 1:36 am
You, Mr James-man, need to try a New Zealand strawberry in summer. YUM.
February 25th, 2008 at 1:37 am
Wait, you had a comic about cunnilingus? Damn, I must have missed that one! And I wonder where exactly on the fruit scale cunnilingus would fall?
February 25th, 2008 at 1:37 am
cantaloupe = rockmelon
silly americans and their need to name everything differently =P
February 25th, 2008 at 1:37 am
Don’t durians smell really bad ?
February 25th, 2008 at 1:38 am
If you’re a fruit, it’s called fellatio. :-P
February 25th, 2008 at 1:38 am
Lol, rockmelon.
I see. It’s a lot simpler to call it a rockmelon.
Why don’t American’s just have their own language if they like changing English so much ?bu
February 25th, 2008 at 1:39 am
Holy hell! Only 800 seconds!? That’s insane!
February 25th, 2008 at 1:39 am
WHOA. You’re uber-nice.
February 25th, 2008 at 1:40 am
I hate popular blogs, you think of a comment for 10 minutes, write it accurately – just to find out that someone else has written exactly the same thing in the same minute a few seconds before you.
@ruben
Well, oranges are more difficult than cherries and the other stuff. Ever tried to peel an orange at work without any special tools? Anyway, I think seeded grapes are way more difficult to eat.
February 25th, 2008 at 1:40 am
I actually agree with almost all of your fruit placements. And I completely agree with you about cantaloupe.
I also enjoy how the grapefruit is grey. (No wonder you think grapefruits are untasty, if that’s the kind of grapefruit you’ve been eating…)
February 25th, 2008 at 1:42 am
Question: where are yellow apples? Also, as someone who hates red apples, I’ll say you should try pink ladies. They’re not like red apples–they’re crisp. But they’re not tart the way that green apples tend to be. In short, they are perfect.
February 25th, 2008 at 1:43 am
Bananas are the easiest fruit ever. You never ever have to touch the part that you eat.
February 25th, 2008 at 1:45 am
I have to agree totally with the chart. Except swap bananas and pears. QLD Bananas FTW!
February 25th, 2008 at 1:45 am
I can’t believe mangoes aren’t on that one. Those things are deceptively hard to eat because of their weird shaped pits, but are absolutely delicious. Other than that you’re right except for matters of personal taste. Fuck grapefruit.
February 25th, 2008 at 1:46 am
Even if it is controversial, I still found today’s strip to be hilarious.
February 25th, 2008 at 1:48 am
Dude, you should try harvesting Pineapple… I mean if we take this back to the ‘picking’ stage it changes everything. Cranberries? just flood a field, no biggy. Apples don’t look so bad any more. Hell even lemons start looking better than blackberries… mmmm, sweet, plump, juicey blackberries, so worth the pain.
February 25th, 2008 at 1:48 am
If you reflected oranges over the horizontal axis and banished pears to the bottom of the Tasty spectrum, I’d be pretty groovy with the chart. Although Golden Delicious apples are godly and should be a separate entity far above green apples.
February 25th, 2008 at 1:49 am
For fatties like me, the more difficult it is to eat, THE BETTER, because it takes you longer to eat it and helps you lose weight. It’s even better if they taste sour and gross like grapefruits, because it makes you less hungry. I have 3 fat grapefruits in my fridge right now.
In short–FUCK PEACHES, those sugary, sticky, hairy abominations of fruit.
February 25th, 2008 at 1:49 am
asdf, the issues involved in eating durian place it so far to the left side of the chart that its y-value is practically meaningless.
February 25th, 2008 at 1:50 am
I also think bananas got robbed. Yeah, they’re kind of bland, but how are they not easy?
February 25th, 2008 at 1:52 am
I reckon a Fruit-voting app would, given enough voters, end up with most/all the fruits centered around the Origin. It would be interesting to see if there are any unanimously “(un)tastiest/(un)easiest” fruiit!
The idea is brilliant though :D.
Where’s the kiwi though? :(
February 25th, 2008 at 1:54 am
I was pleased but not surprised to see that this was so controversial. Oddly enough reading the comic got me worked up and even a little angry (I know, how lame is that?). I guess I’m just used to supreme accuracy and attention to detail in the XKCD strips and this seemed so arbitrary and inaccurate.
I’ll leave out the taste dimension (although I disagree with a lot of it) just because it is so subjective. But the ease dimension seems to have so many clearly incorrect placements.
For instance, a watermelon is definitely not easier to prepare than an orange. An orange can be prepared with just one’s fingers, or at the very most a butter knife. A watermelon requires special equipment, i.e. a giant cleaver. Similarly, lemons should be at the very least equal to oranges in difficulty, although I would argue more so, because lemons absolutely require a knife whereas oranges don’t, with lemons there is the additional hazard of more acidic juice in the eye, and when preparing lemons they have to be sliced more precisely, whereas with oranges you just need to rip the skin off haphazardly.
Bananas strike me as the easiest fruit to eat of all since you don’t have to wash ‘em, they have no pits, and they require nothing but your fingers to peel.
I would also move the berries down the ease scale, since you either need to wash them in a strainer (extra equipment) or in small bunches (extra time).
I like the idea of setting up drag-and-drop voting or allowing everyone to make his or her own graph.
February 25th, 2008 at 1:55 am
[...] Monday’s was up about ten minutes before Randall’s inbox flooded. And now we know what topics are important enough to voice disagreement [...]
February 25th, 2008 at 1:55 am
Buddy, your juvenile and inexcusable opinions on grapefruit suggest to me that you’ve never chewed a Miracle Fruit before having some.
February 25th, 2008 at 1:56 am
I was going to say that everyone should send mail you their favorite fruit to prove how wrong you are. But then I realized that getting hundreds of boxes of rotten fruit probably wouldn’t be much fun for you or your postman.
February 25th, 2008 at 1:57 am
I assume that raspberries and blackberries are missing because they’re off the scale at the upper right…..
February 25th, 2008 at 1:58 am
Guys!?!
Bananas! Really? Negative side of the tastiness axis?
Blasphemy!
February 25th, 2008 at 1:58 am
I’m with Zelmel. Mangoes should define the top-left bound of the graph.
Okay, they’re probably a touch to the right of pineapples, if only because of the reduced possibility of injury.
February 25th, 2008 at 2:00 am
There is something missing here. For a greater appreciation (as well as fear) for fruits such as the exotic coconut and the mighty grapefruit, you should also add a z-axis for how dangerous each fruit is when used as a weapon.
Let’s see you defend yourself with strawberries next time someone attacks you on the street with, say, a watermelon.
February 25th, 2008 at 2:01 am
Are you nuts?!? Bananas are way easier than apples! Eating apples involves messy juice spilling and a difficult, sticky core to dispose of. Bananas are tasty and easily disposable!
Also, Pomgrenate is DELICIOUS. Blasphemy!
Also: No mangos? Guavas? You be way to western-centric :`(
February 25th, 2008 at 2:01 am
If I was a more enterprising individual, I’d be registering fruitopinions.com and starting a collaborative fruit-rating site.
Perhaps fruit is the answer to finding people that you are *really* compatible with.
February 25th, 2008 at 2:02 am
1. Juicy Fruit is absent, as is Fruit By The Foot.
2. Prunes are absent. I can imagine why.
3. I heard a lot about the taste of star fruit, but that ought to fall under the “WTF?” category which would require a third axis to your diagram.
4. For the most part, however, I agree with most of what you said.
February 25th, 2008 at 2:06 am
I’d say the chart is fairly accurate, but you left out a major consideration on the difficulty factor: ease of picking. I don’t mean physically picking the fruit, but picking a good one from the market. For example, you practically have to try to get a bad banana, whereas you have to rummage through nearly all the peaches to get a good one. Also, fruit sold in batches (grapes and berries, mainly) require close visual inspection to achieve a batch with a high good to bad unit ratio.
For me, this is even more important than difficulty of eating. I hardly ever buy peaches or plums, because it’s too much hassle despite excellent flavor and ease of consumption. Mangoes are hard to choose and to eat, making them doubly penalized.
February 25th, 2008 at 2:08 am
One has to wonder weather this graph may be slightly different if the fruit was sampled in different regions. Fruit in Australia > Fruit in England for example.
I was dissapointed where watermelon was put tbh.
February 25th, 2008 at 2:13 am
[...] and moved things around a bit, plotting to send over an email with my thoughts on fruit, and then the xkcd blog was updated: Holy crap. This strip’s been up for 800 seconds and it’s already the most controversial thing [...]
February 25th, 2008 at 2:13 am
And, the obligatory Monty Python for how to defend yourself against all this fruit:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4bCyIAsSid8
February 25th, 2008 at 2:14 am
I love watermelons…
I’m so that graph doesn’t fit me…
February 25th, 2008 at 2:15 am
raspberries :(
February 25th, 2008 at 2:15 am
you have far overrated peaches and far underrated watermelon.
grapefruit is also not that bad.
February 25th, 2008 at 2:15 am
“cantaloupe = rockmelon”
“silly americans and their need to name everything differently =P”
Hmm. 2.4 million hits on Google for cantaloupe, 52 thousand for rockmelon. Both Wikipedia and the wiktionary list rockmelon as an Australian/New Zealand thing, the OED lists “Cantaloup” as the definition of “rock melon”, and the etymology of cantaloup(e) is older than rock melon, and mostly British.
Also, according to the Cambridge Guide to Australian English usage (found on Google books), the name rockmelon is not even standard in that area of the world, and cantaloupe is more common in Victoria and Tasmania.
I think this may be a better example of Australians and New Zealanders needing to name everything differently. Not that there’s anything wrong with that–dialectical differences are fine. Your dialect is not more correct than mine.
Cantaloupes, BTW should be in quadrant 3. They neither taste very good, nor are they easy to eat.
On another topic, the idea bananas (bland and nigh-flavorless phallic hunks of starch) are more delicious than a good orange is laughable. I think you need to try some clemintines, valencia oranges when they’re in season (which they aren’t right now), or blood oranges (which are). Delicious. Also, oranges aren’t hard to eat. The idea that they need to be pealed is the problem–you just slice them into 1/8ths, and bite in. It doesn’t take very long to eat, and there is little mess. In fact, your whole scale is screwy: how on earth is a banana harder to eat than a peach. Peaches either require a knife or are very messy. Bananas come with a convenient wrapper to hold onto the fruit with no mess and no tools. Why you would *want* to eat one is a different story…
You need to try other varieties of apples. There are delicious (mostly) red apples, like Gala or especially pink ladies which blow most of the fruits on your list out of the water. Red delicious apples are not even worth eating if someone gives you one for free.
February 25th, 2008 at 2:15 am
If anything good ever came out of the U of MN (aside from this new study that people who don’t own cats have a 40% higher risk for heart disease), Honeycrisps are it. They’re the only apple I’ll eat now.
Also, I like tomatoes with sugar. So there.
February 25th, 2008 at 2:16 am
Why are bananas difficult? They’re by far the easiest fruit to eat without washing your hands.
February 25th, 2008 at 2:16 am
You haven’t tried proper tomatoes. What you can buy here is bland, tasteless and artificially ripened… to an extent. Not ripe enough, not even properly red.
I LOVE tomatoes, ’s why I don’t eat them when in US.
As for grapefruit, it takes some technique. A short knife - about 4″ blade, not too sharp, to take off the peel off one side of a segment, then sllllluuuuurrrrrrrpppp eeeeh.
February 25th, 2008 at 2:17 am
Bananas are delicious, you disgusting bastard.
I like the positioning of blueberries though.
February 25th, 2008 at 2:20 am
Hmph. We are completely missing another dimension to this compass. Namely that of texture (”pleasant”/”unpleasant”). Then everyone can weigh in on the whole peach v. nectarine or plum v. prune debate.
–Patrick
February 25th, 2008 at 2:21 am
Its amazing how controversial this is. Especially because I myself, was like, “No! That’s not right! Someone on the internet is WRONG.” But then i have to step back and say woah. Chart about one person’s opinion about fruit. Right.
February 25th, 2008 at 2:21 am
Disregarding taste preferences, as mentioned above, I still find myself in categorical disagreement with many of the ease rankings. Tell, us, good sir, how much did apples and their ilk bribe you to be placed ahead of the oranges?
February 25th, 2008 at 2:22 am
I demand a poster with this strip. Also, it absolutely has to say “Fuck grapefruit”.
February 25th, 2008 at 2:23 am
Get some real taste buds fruit-hater.
February 25th, 2008 at 2:26 am
>> Also, I have never liked cantaloupe. It brings down otherwise tasty fruit salads. There, I said it.
Damn right.
February 25th, 2008 at 2:29 am
Haha! This blag post made me laugh much harder than the comic. Seriously though, watermelons are great.
February 25th, 2008 at 2:32 am
Dude, you forgot to include Snozzberries.
February 25th, 2008 at 2:34 am
Where the HELL are apricots and plums????
Not to mention the obvious omissions of mangoes and starfruit …
What, you’ve never heard of starfruit?
(Turns out Firefox’s spellcheck hasn’t either).
February 25th, 2008 at 2:34 am
@Alturin
Yeah, if you averaged everyone’s votes using cartesian coordinates, there’d be a fair few fruits that clustered at the origin. But if you average polar coordinates… :)
February 25th, 2008 at 2:34 am
Oh, I forgot: Snapples, don’t taste good at all, and are a definite bastard to eat.
Tastes like tin.
February 25th, 2008 at 2:35 am
Further investigation (and also the title of the comic) leads me to believe that I’d previously overlooked Grapefruit. Surly, there is some sort of dire error, as many grapefruit are absolutely delicious. The sweet sort, the type with just a hint of tangyness are amazing. Not only do they have a more interesting, delicious taste than oranges, but they’re also larger, getting you more bang per fruit. If you want to eat just a bit more than an orange (but not *two* oranges), grapefruit is the optimum choice.
@Alex To be fair, I also thought about my post for several minutes before stuffing it up there. Our simotanious reaction simply means that The Fruit Rater 5000 is a wonderful (if somewhat obvious) idea. “Great minds think alike.” (Also, “fools never differ.” I’m debating fruit. This is probably not a great mark in my favor.)
February 25th, 2008 at 2:39 am
I don’t know why everyone is complaining so much, it’s his own opinion. He doesn’t need people telling him what fruits to like.
And, personally, I think that bananas are too squishy and sweat, they look unappetizing with those freaky black bruises, and if you’re not near a trash can, you’re left with a sticky peel that you can’t throw away (unless you like littering).
I agree about the coconut thing, as well. They just don’t taste good, and you have to scrape the meat stuff off the shell.
February 25th, 2008 at 2:40 am
Edit: Uh, I meant to say “sweet” not “sweat”. I guess I didn’t notice it when I re-read my comment.
February 25th, 2008 at 2:41 am
Best comic/graph ever! Even though you clearly have no idea that peeling a banana is fucking super easy, unless of course, if you don’t have imposable thumbs.
February 25th, 2008 at 2:41 am
I’m not here to argue with you, however misguided some of your fruit-related thoughts have proven to be. That is not why I have seeken you out. I have found you to inform you of the following fact:
When you say green apples are tastier than red apples, you are right the fuck on the money.
Bask in the glow of an amazing job well done, sir.
February 25th, 2008 at 2:43 am
And I suppose that would be “sought”. I fail at grammar much like how you have taken the fruit awesomesauce and made jam.
February 25th, 2008 at 2:45 am
Great idea for a strip, I agree with the coconuts. But cantaloupe!?!? And after reading all the comments about them being disgusting or dreary, people have obviously never had a good cantaloupe. For me at least, it has this sweet flavor that’s not too overpowering, and it’s got a satisfying texture. Also great with whip cream or vanilla ice cream. But hey, each to his own.
February 25th, 2008 at 2:45 am
Great idea for a strip, I agree with the coconuts. But cantaloupe!?!? And after reading all the comments about them being disgusting or dreary, people have obviously never had a good cantaloupe. For me at least, it has this sweet flavor that’s not too overpowering, and it’s got a satisfying texture. Also great with whip cream or vanilla ice cream. But hey, each to his o
February 25th, 2008 at 2:46 am
1) Fuck you.
2) When is the store back online?
2b) Will there be new pro-pineapple-/anti-tomatoe-shirts?
February 25th, 2008 at 2:46 am
Damn, sorry about the double post, my clicks went crazy.
February 25th, 2008 at 2:48 am
I agree on the melon front. I think part of the reason why cantaloupes and watermelons are such a big part of fruit salads is that they’re cheaper than nectarines and strawberries.
February 25th, 2008 at 2:50 am
This a travesty. I demand justice for pomegranates!
In other news, Gr?pples. Eat them.
February 25th, 2008 at 2:54 am
On further review of the chart, would you care to explain how apples are easier to eat than plums? Or does this mean that you’re one of those who consume the core, since that is the only justification I can imagine. Similarly, tomatoes are at worst as difficult to eat as apples (I mean, if you insist on cutting them, that is your own affair, but it is by no means necessary), and at best far easier - that is, for those of us who do not munch on cores.
February 25th, 2008 at 3:00 am
I think I’d completely disagree with your graph if it weren’t for pineapple. I don’t have anything against pineapple, but the requirement to follow it up with anti-histamines in order to stay alive negate both the deliciousness and ease factors somewhat.
February 25th, 2008 at 3:02 am
You’re so right - watermelon is epically overrated. I think this is a quantity/quality thing. If watermelons were the size of oranges, nobody would eat them.
February 25th, 2008 at 3:10 am
You, sir, are a crazy person (albeit one whose comics I love dearly). While I can accept that few people share my appreciation of the lemon.. Oranges, untasty? Are you JOKING?
February 25th, 2008 at 3:11 am
YO GRAPEFRUIT IS DA ILLEST FRUIT LILBITCHES ALL CONCERNED ABOUT HOW SWEET DA SHIT IS BUT JADED ASS HEADZ LIKE ME LIKE THEY FRUIT LIKE THEY COFFEE, BITTER AND INVIGORATING
STEP OFF BEFORE YOU GT FUKKIN WRECKED
February 25th, 2008 at 3:12 am
That looks like a joke but I motherfucking assure you it is not.
February 25th, 2008 at 3:20 am
This is the best comic you have ever made.
February 25th, 2008 at 3:23 am
I approve of the fruit-chart, though my own tastes differ, and I love the controversy of it all. Who knew fruit was such a touchy subject?
February 25th, 2008 at 3:25 am
Despite all the canteloupe (or rockmelon) vs. watermelon controversy, whether it’s graph location or value added in a fruit salad, I’m surprised that honeydew hasn’t been mentioned. For some reason it’s always cut in chunks larger than canteloupe, it’s more difficult to tell when ripe (even after it’s been cut open) and has zero flavor. The only time honeydon’t has ever given back to the world was when it was smart enough to join forces with the cucumber (the world’s most second useless fruit) to create a nice, light fragranced shower soap.
I can see why you omitted these two from the graph as they aren’t worth taking the time to plot, however I don’t want to see honeydon’t go unpunished for being the primary culprit in ruining fruit salads. Leave room for the pineapple.
Also I agree that mango, kiwi, (and avocado) should help “flesh” out Quadrant II.
February 25th, 2008 at 3:25 am
BANANAS BANANAS BANANAS!
February 25th, 2008 at 3:34 am
Come on seriously Red Apples are better then Green!
February 25th, 2008 at 3:35 am
I DEMAND A RECOUNT!
February 25th, 2008 at 3:39 am
To anyone who claims “rockmelon” is the correct name, I suggest you review your botany. It’s not an American idiosyncracy, it’s what the damned thing is called: the full Latin name for the species is “Cucumis melo cantalupensis.”
February 25th, 2008 at 3:43 am
fuck peaches. oranges are damn tasty
February 25th, 2008 at 3:46 am
Tomatoes are a vegetable, and the US government agrees. I cite Nix v. Hedden in 1893 as a definitive ruling. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nix_v._Hedden
February 25th, 2008 at 3:49 am
Just so you know, the “we both have taste, who’s to say whose right? I am” line was stolen 100% from dave barry.
February 25th, 2008 at 4:01 am
Someone needs to make this a flash. So we can all post our own on all our blags~!
February 25th, 2008 at 4:07 am
You are looking at melons (watermelons, cantaloups) in the wrong way. They should be harder, yet tastier. The watermelon, in particular, is very tasty in the middle. Take a large watermelon, cut away and discard everything but the center, 3 maybe 4 inches in diameter. Truly sweet. The cantaloup is even worse, because you have the seeds to deal with, but if you avoid getting to0 near the rind a good example has true flavor, but is on the edge of mushiness and therefore not good for salads anyway.
As for coconuts, exit the stone age, bypass the iron age (a claw hammer works better than a rock) and enter the 21st century (or at least the 19th). Power tools are the answer. Sending the thing through a band saw (after drilling it to drain the juice, of course) gives the endeavor an extra flavor that can’t be gained otherwise.
Ok, some of that taste may be wd40, but still….
February 25th, 2008 at 4:07 am
“(Allowing for harvesting difficulty)….Hell even lemons start looking better than blackberries… mmmm, sweet, plump, juicey blackberries, so worth the pain.”
Well our tomatoes are currently very painful to harvest because the blackberry which I thought I had eradicated has sprung up between them :-( - and the blackberry were too full of insects for anyone to want to eat them.
Our grapefruit tree produces really sweet fruit, but with very thick pith (way to the left!), so we just juice them all.
Oh, and kiwis aren’t on the chart because they are MEAT, goddammit - and a protected species so you’re not allowed to eat them. Kiwifruit, on the other hand….
From the home of the kiwifruit.
February 25th, 2008 at 4:16 am
I gotta say, you nearly perfectly summed up my feelings on fruit, though I really dislike peaches, and would instead put seedless grapes in that position.
Then again you are the supreme overlord of fruit opinion and I must reform or die.
February 25th, 2008 at 4:19 am
You’ve ranked oranges way too low. Enjoy your scurvy, you bastard.
February 25th, 2008 at 4:22 am
I wonder where the durian would stand on this chart…
February 25th, 2008 at 4:22 am
See, red apples actually CAN be tasty, but they get fucked over because they don’t travel well. Red Delicious in particular are always crappy in the store.
So here’s what you do. Go to an apple orchard in the fall. Pick a Red Delicious off the tree about 3 days before it’s officially “ripe”. Eat it. I guarantee, it’s like ambrosia. The nectar of the gods, man. Even better if you stick it in the fridge for an hour before eating.
February 25th, 2008 at 4:25 am
Watermelon is fucking amazing.
February 25th, 2008 at 4:25 am
The citrus are underrated! Long live lemons and oranges! But yeah, I wouldn’t imagine this could cause so much controversy, Damn!
Also:
“I have never liked cantaloupe. It brings down otherwise tasty fruit salads. There, I said it.”
Agree
“You are wrong; watermelon is overrated.”
Disagree
February 25th, 2008 at 4:35 am
Coconuts are easy to open. I can get them in about 30 seconds. You just have to know how.
http://www.tradenote.net/images/users/000/025/614/products_images/Dry_Coconut.jpg
just hit the coconut along its ‘equator’ with a semi-sharp object (really hard). If it doesn’t pop open, you may need to pry it a little.
It’s best when you construct such a semi-sharp object into an under-hat helmet… and then crack a coconut open on your head in front of a bunch of people.
I did that once in high school. It was filler for our talent show. Suddenly nobody wanted to pick fights with me anymore…..
February 25th, 2008 at 4:49 am
s/tasty/sweet/ and you’re right.
You do have taste buds that recognize more than one taste, do you?
February 25th, 2008 at 4:51 am
“Fuck coconuts.”
Hear hear!
And ditto to your opinions on cantaloupes.
Disagree or not, I laughed so hard. Well done, sir.
February 25th, 2008 at 5:11 am
You misunderstand cantaloupes - they’re not for eating, they’re for using as suitably large round objects to describe the size of large breasts!
February 25th, 2008 at 5:23 am
For those of you who badmouth peaches and pears, travel to the Okanagan Valley in British Columbia one summer and sink your teeth their fresh fruits. It is a total sensory experience as the cool juice dribbles down your hot neck on a bright summer day as you stand in the orchard and let the waves of flavour rack your body.
In other words, it’s tasty. Peaches Ftw.
February 25th, 2008 at 5:26 am
Oranges are delicious! AND easy…
Red apples are pretty great themselves.
And bananas? DUDE! B is for banana! http://www.menc.org/guides/dole/mp3/banana.mp3
You’re not cool anymore…
Noy
February 25th, 2008 at 5:42 am
Slight mistake: “seeded” means that the seeds have been removed, not that there are seeds. Also, bananas are way easier than cherries. Those pits are a pain in the neck.
February 25th, 2008 at 5:58 am
bananas are easier than apples!
February 25th, 2008 at 6:16 am
Since when are bananas difficult?
February 25th, 2008 at 6:17 am
I think this is too much about comparing apples and oranges.
February 25th, 2008 at 6:22 am
oranges are more tasty than bananas and bananas are more tasty than 0. oh please…
this should clearly be interactive and then build a “heat map” of all coordinates per fruit. i’m curious where there is some consensus and where it splits up into two or more clusters!
February 25th, 2008 at 6:33 am
I’m with you on the grapefruit. they are aweful.
February 25th, 2008 at 6:46 am
This comic lines up w/Gary Gulman’s “The Grapefruit” stand-up bit.
[The_Grape] … you can use the name, but one thing?
[The_Grape] When we’re in a salad together, could you NOT fuck up my shit?
February 25th, 2008 at 6:50 am
ORANGES!
February 25th, 2008 at 6:50 am
I think you may have actually made a comic that has something for every single one of your readers to disagree with. Often passionately! And it’s about something as benign as FRUIT. This is a grand achievement, and my hat is off to you.
Also, you’ve slandered the noble tomato, you bastard.
February 25th, 2008 at 7:00 am
I also have different opinions about fruits than Randall, but I’m not going to waste everyone’s time by saying it.
I think this topic is controversial among xkcd comics for the same reason bikeshed (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Color_of_the_bikeshed) is a controversial topic.
February 25th, 2008 at 7:01 am
Grapes are in the right place. Nothing else is. Peaches are made of demon poop and bananas are the original convenience food albeit not hugely yummy.
February 25th, 2008 at 7:08 am
Pineapples are difficult, though delicious.
My question though, is where the hell does one put an avacado?
February 25th, 2008 at 7:26 am
I really wish I would have phrased my comment “Since when are bananas not easy?”, just so I could deny any sexual implications. Seriously.
February 25th, 2008 at 7:27 am
I must disagree with you on the matter of cantaloupe and pomegranets. Those are, while difficult, are highly delicious. At least we agree on pears though…
February 25th, 2008 at 7:29 am
Who’s agreeing on pears now? They should definitely switch places with blueberries!
February 25th, 2008 at 7:34 am
People don’t eat grape seeds? Weird.
February 25th, 2008 at 7:37 am
Yo, dude: Jessica Hagy is SO going to kick your butt…
February 25th, 2008 at 7:42 am
Generic fruit related comment.
February 25th, 2008 at 7:44 am
the secret to grapefruit is to not eat the membrane surrounding the juicy innards.
February 25th, 2008 at 7:47 am
My god, over 130+ comments and no one has brought up (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gallagher_%28comedian%29) Gallagher? But see, according to the diagram Watermelon is the center of the fruity comedic universe!
February 25th, 2008 at 7:56 am
I like the placing of pomegranate. WAY overrated. Pom JUICE on the other hand, is awesome but expensive.
February 25th, 2008 at 8:25 am
Also, they (grapefruits) CAUSE CANCER. And you’re not allowed them if you’re on anti-depressants.
That said, they’re delicious.
February 25th, 2008 at 8:38 am
BAH. All fruit sucks. But really, fuck grapefruit.
Also tomatoes, which are still in a larval stage.
/shudders
//junk food FTW
February 25th, 2008 at 8:38 am
oranges just rock. no two ways about it.
1. they beat scurvy.
2. they taste the sweetest/best of the citrus (which beat scurvy)
3. BEST morning fruit, by far.
4. BEST re-hydration fruit by far (remember, soccer games?)
5. They rock. no two ways about it.
and creating a fruit comic….talk about sticking your head in the lion’s mouth :)
awesome work though. keep it up. and try some better oranges.
February 25th, 2008 at 8:46 am
The best part is, I can’t see the comic due to the corporate firewall (pure evil filename). Good thing I woke up a bit earlier today and had some free time before going off to work.
February 25th, 2008 at 8:54 am
[...] has posted his most controversial comic yet, Fruit Opinions! Bringing science and the maths to a graph of the tastiness and easiness of fruits [...]
February 25th, 2008 at 9:14 am
I love that this is your most controversial topic. I find myself wanting to redo your graph for ‘Fruit Best Shot Out of a Cannon’. Hopefully that will pass.
February 25th, 2008 at 9:18 am
Cantalope can be good, but it is often bland. I like adding some salt on it though.
Nonetheless, cantalope >>> honeydew
February 25th, 2008 at 9:24 am
Your opinion is skewed by having lived only in the United Stated. Had you lived in a different place, fruit would taste different. Take watermelon, for example. This is clearly a geography dependent fruit.
Also, you forgot cactus pear (I think that’s how it’s called). I’d put it all over to the left and top.
February 25th, 2008 at 9:28 am
Yeah, can’t say I agree with most of it. Cantaloupe is just bad though, no doubt about it. Also, I know all about the coconut thing. Let’s just say throwing them at rocks doesn’t do anything.
February 25th, 2008 at 9:28 am
I can open a coconut within the minute, with a hammer. I can actually smash the hard outside, whilst containing a perfect round shell less coconut.
Perhaps I should make an instructional youtube video or something.
Also: You seriously underrated pears, they are simply awesome! I don’t understand your opinion towards oranges either. If you use a knife to chop it in 4 parts, it’s a whole lot easier eating them.
February 25th, 2008 at 9:41 am
I would love this in a poster format. I am in beverage marketing and have seen about a thousand of these with little beverage logo’s when we are looking for white-space to fill. I think the reason we lay info out in this manner is to make it look like we actually did the homework. Nice work.
February 25th, 2008 at 9:45 am
Where would Jackfruit be ranked? Does the difficulty level contemplate the harvesting or is it just about unpeeling, taking off the seeds? Maybe every reader should send Randall a sample of a missing/uderrated fruit on the chart! Jackfruit’s harvesting is far off the chart.
February 25th, 2008 at 9:58 am
clearly i have a much bigger desire for citric acid than you do. also grapefruit is much easier if you use one of these: http://www.chefn.com/products/gadgets/grapefruiter.html
though to be fair i drink grapefruit juice like this guy drinks pepsi:
http://www.sirpepsi.com/default.htm
February 25th, 2008 at 9:59 am
An open poll is here:
http://ermarian.net/services/statistics/fruit
Have fun! =)
February 25th, 2008 at 10:01 am
On the banana issue: It depends entirely on the type of banana and how close to ripe it is. Anyone who thinks they’re bland and not sweet has obviously been eating them 2-3 days too early.
Tomatoes, like bananas, increase exponentially in tastiness (and squishiness) over time. likewise, they go through an appeal singularity where they achieve perfection then hours later become sacs of putrescent goo. UNLIKE bananas, tomatoes don’t ripen properly after they’ve been picked–so don’t buy ‘em from the supermarket. If you can’t grow them yourself, find someone local who does.
A fruit-voting app might tend toward the origin if it only tracked averages–by tracking variances and covariances, you might get some interesting circles and elipses going.
February 25th, 2008 at 10:15 am
Pineapples are not that hard, the technique is relatively simple, using oven mittens grab the crown and peel the skin (not worrying too much with waste), once the skin is done, chop the crown. Pretty easy, and if you get the small sandy soil ones, they top peaches hands down.
February 25th, 2008 at 10:20 am
Pineapples are far tastier than you give them credit for sir!
February 25th, 2008 at 10:23 am
On closer examination of the comic, I think I see where the problem lies. Your grapefruit is mouldy.
February 25th, 2008 at 10:24 am
Pack o’ proper lies, this is. Grapefruit is admittedly hard to get into, but man, have you ever gotten up on Christmas/Alterna-Demonitional Day, cut a grapefruit in half, sprinkled it up with some cinnamon sugar, topped it with a cherry, and warmed it all up in the oven? Obviously not. I agree with Teemu’s sentiment regarding a Z-axis; however, I would use it to demonstrate the potential taste shift available with proper preparation and/or usage. Another example: tomato increases in relative tastiness when sliced and placed atop a hamburger.
There are other inconsistencies with the chart, as well: cherries easier and less tasty than seeded grapes? Lemons, the go-to sour fruit, and green apples, the lesser-known sour fruit, on opposite sides of red apples? Pears ranked on an ease that clearly precludes the difficulties in determining appropriate ripeness? This is a chart, all right. A sea chart sailing us into the ocean of madness.
February 25th, 2008 at 10:31 am
watermelon used to suck…but now the new seedless watermelon is actually pretty tasty and has much less pips (seeds)…
you have seedless grapes…it’s only fair to add seedless watermelon…
February 25th, 2008 at 10:35 am
Don’t like Citrus? A friend of mine in college liked feeding citrus to virile men. She did that with a devilish look on her face, because citrus apparently improves the taste of… well…
February 25th, 2008 at 10:35 am
To hell with Grapefruit:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KjG1Oqm95xg
February 25th, 2008 at 10:36 am
why are people complaining about the name “cantaloupe”? It’s not just the american name; it’s also used in canada and europe. it’s only called “rockmelon” in australia and new zealand, so –you’re– the weird ones.
February 25th, 2008 at 10:42 am
Grapefruit fail on a by-themselves basis, but with the application of a sprinkle of sugar gain all manners of awesome flavourosity.
But the fact that you consider tomatoes tastier marks you as a true rapscallion, and I must waggle my finger in disapproval. Also, Cherries are vastly superior to blueberries, to the point of meriting capitalization to emphasize the point!
February 25th, 2008 at 10:54 am
Another thing to note: Many of the fruits in the chart vary wildly in terms of flavor and difficulty depending on the variety. There are many varieties of banana that are extremely difficult to open but 10X tastier than the grocery store variety (which are actually all clones of the same plant — in fact, some people think the banana industry will be destroyed by disease in a couple of decades due to disease.)
February 25th, 2008 at 11:01 am
If you’re going to be pedantic and include tomatoes, then you left off a large number of popular fruits-that-are-also-vegetables: cucumbers, peppers, zucchini, all squash including pumpkins, and pretty much every other vegetable that isn’t a leaf or a root.
February 25th, 2008 at 11:07 am
That chart’s probably only good for New England, where apples grow naturally and ripen on trees but watermelons must be imported or subject to an abbreviated growing season, and Mr. Munroe may have never tasted an actual tomato what grows on a bush.
Along the Gulf of Mexico, where apples drive all the way from Washington and watermelons, citrus, and tomatoes grow in the backyard, the chart would probably read differently.
February 25th, 2008 at 11:08 am
my only real problem… banana’s are way the easiest fruit (or one of them). No juice to squirt everywhere and worry about. you can open them with your bare hands (no knifery needed). and they have a handy little casing so that you do not get sticky fruit goo all over your hands.
the ONLY fruits easier than banana’s are things like blueberries or seedless grapes that you eat whole and have nothing to throw out at the end.
February 25th, 2008 at 11:13 am
HONEYDEW HONEYDEW HONEYDEW!
February 25th, 2008 at 11:14 am
Grapefruit is awesome. I understand its harsh, but I truly love it. Fuck sugar on it. Its all about the bitter bitches.
February 25th, 2008 at 11:14 am
DEATH TO THE CITRUS BERATERS!
February 25th, 2008 at 11:15 am
And on a more calm, reserved note, in the defense of my beloved grapefruit:
The sweet ain’t as sweet without the bitter.
-The DTs
February 25th, 2008 at 11:16 am
I agree with jman583. I can put a banana in my backpack and not have to worry about any preparation when I bite. Too easy!
We have started a facebook group/petition. “Make xkcd recognize the facility of bananas in the fruit spectrum”
February 25th, 2008 at 11:16 am
I’d just like to say on the subject of tomatoes:
Knowledge is knowing that tomato is a fruit. Intelligence is knowing not to put it into a fruit salad.
It’s amazing that there’s so much controversy, over FRUIT. it’s just a comic. none of this may have anything to do with the real world, (e.g. nerd-sniping: fun but not actually done anywhere)
it’s just XKCD’s opinion, and it makes us laugh looking at the comics. Funnier would have been to place things in obviously wrong positions, and wait for all your reactions. WAIT - he’s actually done that. oh well…
IF you really care so much, take it apart using photoshop or the GIMP and move everything around to where you want it. PROBLEM SOLVED.
Oh Yeah - BACK TO WORK!
February 25th, 2008 at 11:20 am
Cool graph. Reminds me of something you might see at Indexed. Of course, the only reason I knew about Indexed was the link from your comic, so it’s all circular.
Frankly, apples can go all over the graph, depending on variety.
The most important rule for apples: “Red Delicious” is only half right.
February 25th, 2008 at 11:23 am
Being kind of a food nerd myself, I found the placement of fruit on your grid quite apt.
All things being equal, if one takes a food preparation stance when rating various fruits, one can easily see the wisdom here. Citrus fruits like lemons require a lot of coddling, not only in terms of extracting the fruit from the skin, but in temrs of making them palletable - nobody plucks a lemon from the tree and pops it in their mouth as they would a plum or peach. The former would be pretty revolting IMO.
Tomatoes are another one. There’s something about the big-ish grocery store variety that require some kind of sugar or fat to balance out the acidity of the fruit. Cherry tomatoes are probably the only exception.
Oh yea, and fuck coconut. The stuff tastes like sun-tan lotion anyway.
February 25th, 2008 at 11:25 am
I’ve seen a technique for peeling pineapple which utilized a smallish machete and stripped the bloody thing of its spines and “eyes” in a matter of a few minutes, leaving a fresh, quartered pineapple with a lovely spiral pattern. When I attempted to replicate this, I nearly cut off a couple of my fingers. But with practice, it looks pretty easy to open them.
What about durian and jackfruit? Covered with spikes and not really worth the effort, if you ask me, especially durian. Rambutan, on the other hand, is easy and delicious.
February 25th, 2008 at 11:27 am
By the way, some fruits are missing. The pomelo, for example, is a really tasty citrus fruit although it may be a bit difficult to eat. (In wonder if by the time I will click the Submit-button someone will have written exactly this.)
@ James
Well, I think you had a clear advantage over me because I had to imagine how wonderful the world would be with a fruit rating system and how we could solve Randall’s “fruity mailbox problem” and which fruits are actually missrated – and then translate the whole thing. You just had to think of how wonderful the world would be with a… And so on.
February 25th, 2008 at 11:28 am
I will concede to you for most of the chart but oranges need to be just a little closer to the tasty side.
February 25th, 2008 at 11:38 am
How the hell is an orange more difficult to eat than a watermelon? You can open an orange with your fingers, you need a (large) knife for watermelon, and then you have to worry about correctly storing the huge portion you didn’t eat.
Also, oranges are fucking delicious. I can understand how you might think they weren’t if you’ve been eating nasty California oranges or something, but Florida oranges are fantastic.
The citrus hate is uncalled for. Pineapples in particular, while I’ve never figured out how to open one myself, belong near the very top of the tasty axis.
February 25th, 2008 at 11:43 am
I think it is really funny that this came out less than a week after the Duty Calls strip, proving how accurate that strip is.
February 25th, 2008 at 11:43 am
Cantaloupe sucks.
February 25th, 2008 at 11:48 am
All hail the mighty Cherimoya, lord of the fruits, and his lovely queen Mangosteen!
February 25th, 2008 at 11:51 am
Bananas untasty?
If you weren’t so damned witty, xkcd, you’d have lost a reader there!
Also: how the hell did I miss a comic about cunnilingus?!
February 25th, 2008 at 11:53 am
The little Baby tomatoes found in garden salads are juicier and sweeter than their larger brethren.
February 25th, 2008 at 11:55 am
I realize that of lot these fruits’ placement on this grid reflect an individual human’s preferences & proclivities… but there is NO WAY to justify calling lemons easier to eat than oranges. Maybe you’ve been eating juice oranges? Try navels. They’re the ones with the navel. You can peel them with a decent fingernail, they naturally break into bite-sized sections, and they don’t spill at all.
February 25th, 2008 at 11:57 am
POMEGRANATES AND ORANGES? UNTASTY? FUCK YOU AND YOUR SHITTY TASTE
I USED TO THINK YOU WERE COOL, BUT IT’S ALL OVER NOW
February 25th, 2008 at 11:58 am
This could be interesting in 3D. Z axis based on price.
Also bananas got jewed.
February 25th, 2008 at 12:07 pm
Your anti-citrus agenda is disappointing to me.
February 25th, 2008 at 12:08 pm
corz — I prefer orange jews.
February 25th, 2008 at 12:15 pm
Limes should be on the positive relative to lemons.
Kiwi should be in the difficult but oh so tasty range.
Where are pumpkins, they would classify as unrelentingly difficult and gross tasting.
February 25th, 2008 at 12:17 pm
Pumpkins are not fruit, they are a halloween decoration.
February 25th, 2008 at 12:19 pm
Rofl, this made me late for work. Orange-hating grape-lover!
Seriously I don’t see how you can stand grapes and not like oranges. And LEMONS. Lemons are delicious. I don’t even see limes on there!! Limes are even better than lemons!
Someone suggested that fruity make-your-own-graph idea, and I totally might have to get on that.
February 25th, 2008 at 12:24 pm
What fthe fuck is wrong with you? Oranges and bananas should be on the “tasty” side, and peaches SUCK!
February 25th, 2008 at 12:26 pm
It can’t be stressed enough:
The only source of bitterness in grapefruits is the membrane/integument/whatever-it-is-called between and around the segments.
There is no need for special spoons, knives or even sugar, when “peeled”
all the way. Give it a try!
Admittedly, that peeling process ranges pretty far left on the Difficulty scale.
February 25th, 2008 at 12:26 pm
umm…i don’t have much time, so i don’t know if anyone’s mentioned the kiwi?
i think maybe, it could be…if we use fruits as units (3,2) cause you cut them in half and eat them with a spoon?
OH! you put them at (3,2,5) didn’t you? (using the z-axis as ‘awesome’)
sorry slight misunderstanding
February 25th, 2008 at 12:27 pm
Oh, so totally wrong. Cantaloupe is delicious! And plums better than bananas? wtf?
February 25th, 2008 at 12:28 pm
Cantaloupe, aka Musk Mellon is awesome, but its hard to find a good one that isn’t hard and dry. A good one is very fragrant and juicy with lots of flavor. I guess you have never had a proper one, so I’ll forgive you for casting such unfavorable opinions.
Also, you need to try a nice firm plantain before dismissing bananas and their ilk.
February 25th, 2008 at 12:31 pm
The solution to the is obvious. This needs to be turned into it’s own web 2.0 site where you can create your own fruit charts with fancy draggable fruits.
February 25th, 2008 at 12:32 pm
All subjectivism aside, there is no way a pineapple is more difficult than a pomegranate. Unless my pomegranate opening skills are unrefined?
February 25th, 2008 at 12:36 pm
You left out clementines.
Easy and delicious.
February 25th, 2008 at 12:40 pm
THIS IS ALL LIES LEMONS ARE THE ONE TRUE FRUIT.
Oranges have been shortchanged! Peaches have been unfairly pimped! WATERMELON IS TERRIBLE.
I agree with you entirely on coconuts. Man, fuck coconuts. But the real threat isn’t whole coconut but that stealth grated crap. I hate it when you see chocolate cake or brownies or something and you’re like, “Delicious!” and then you bite in and it’s all “Ha ha made you eat coconut!” and you’re all “Dammit! TRICKED AGAIN.” The point of coconuts is not to eat but to smash and if you haven’t spiked one on the top level of a parking garage you are missing out.
The easiest method of preparing pineapple is with a sword. Ask Black Hole for details.
You need to do a graph of fruit deliciousness vs. artificial flavoring deliciousness, i.e. grapes are delicious but grape flavored things are not.
February 25th, 2008 at 12:40 pm
Taste is highly subjective, so I won’t go into that, but you must be doing something funny with bananas if you don’t find them to be some of the easiest fruits. What’s difficult about them, apart from the fact that you have something to dispose of after eating (which is true for most other fruits anyway, except seedless grapes and, perhaps, berries)? No instruments needed for opening, no washing, no seeds and no mess on your hands.
February 25th, 2008 at 12:47 pm
I have some sort of aversion to fruit where the texture, for some ridiculous reason, just makes me vomit straightaway. Needless to say, today’s comic reminded me of what I’m missing out on, and also grossed me out a little bit.
That said, where’s this comic about cunnilingus?
February 25th, 2008 at 12:53 pm
Comic about cunnilingus:
http://xkcd.com/136/
February 25th, 2008 at 12:56 pm
Come on! How are bananas on the difficult side? You have got to be using some crazy ass engineering voodoo banana peeling machine or something -
This is me right now!!!
http://xkcd.com/386/
February 25th, 2008 at 12:58 pm
[...] and, my friends, I see it on xkcd. If it were a simple mistake, I could forgive it, but Randall has persisted in his misinformation, even revelled in [...]
February 25th, 2008 at 1:00 pm
Feckin grapefruits aren’t gray, unless spoiled, but they taste better than a lot of stuff. However, a coconut?, come on, all you need is a katana, and the sucker rips open like nobody’s business
Or, put it under an adjustable can opener
-Mr. Purple
February 25th, 2008 at 1:02 pm
As for ease of consumption, I dare you to open a watermelon with your bare hands. :P
February 25th, 2008 at 1:09 pm
bananas are good; always take a banana to a party… Bananas are good.
sorry, just had to throw that out there (this is the type of crowd I would expect to pick up on that earlier) and I agree with the voting, and ajax, and cartesian coordinates (or maybe polar) and all that stuff. and quick, register fruitgraph.com, it’ll be like wetriffs
February 25th, 2008 at 1:15 pm
I loved this one. I did look at it and think, “Randall has some seriously different fruit taste opinions than I do,” but I always appreciate it when any complex system can by represented in a two dimensional field. I showed it to my husband and after nodding appreciatively at the placement of pineapple, he asked, “where’s coconut?” I indicated a spot well to the left of the computer screen, and THEN I moused over the comic. We LOLed.
You do realize, of course, that at the next get together you will be surrounded by admirers feeding you seedless grapes.
February 25th, 2008 at 1:17 pm
Hey, that was mean, I love grapefruits.
February 25th, 2008 at 1:28 pm
i just registered fruitopinions. Gimme a day or three; my Javascript skills are pretty damn rusty.
February 25th, 2008 at 1:30 pm
Mint-pear grass mushroom! Orange-food cherry banana. Jam, stew-dough dough apple sandwich-food.
February 25th, 2008 at 1:30 pm
In regards to my previous comment (http://blag.xkcd.com/2008/02/25/fruit-opinions/#comment-13875), I’m scared that this picture came to my mind….
http://xkcd.com/236/
O.o
February 25th, 2008 at 1:34 pm
What the hell man. Pomegranates are insanely delicious. One time I spent an entire Babylon 5 Season 1 marathon eating just ONE pomegranate and it blew my mind.
To be fair that might have just been the Babylon.
February 25th, 2008 at 1:38 pm
Why are oranges more difficult than lemons?
February 25th, 2008 at 1:47 pm
IMO, grapefruit is a lot of work, but to make it taste good (and it is so worth it), you have to remove it from the membrane and just eat the pulpy segments. But as it has been pointed out, you seem to be biased against citrus for some reason.
February 25th, 2008 at 1:49 pm
so… I’m assuming this is just a chart for the fruit as-is, because you cannot deny the tastiness of lemon meringue pie. on, the other hand, that’s mostly the tastiness of sugar and egg whites.
in all fairness, though, you should have made this a 3-dimensional graph, to take into account the period of availability for actual ripe fruit throughout the year. strawberries may be tasty sometimes, but not when they’re shipped from Chile in the dead of winter.
oh, and green apples over red apples every single time. I cannot possibly argue this point.
February 25th, 2008 at 1:51 pm
Kiwi(fruit) are a pain in the ass because you have to cook them.
February 25th, 2008 at 1:52 pm
“Your comment is awaiting moderation”?
Aw, come on, was it because I linked to http://xkcd.com/236/ ? I suppose it’s not a perspective you’d like people to have, but come on, we all know that can’t be it, or bananas would definitely have been farther right than apples. ;) Pineapples, on the other hand, I suppose would be appropriately placed! LOL
February 25th, 2008 at 1:54 pm
this cannot stand! i will not tolerate this slander, this..this malicious libel! grapefruit is both easy and tart delicious. you cut it in half, you eat it with a spoon.
don’t even get me started on oranges. good lord man. they self-compartmentalize! divisible bitesize sections!
exasperated gah!
February 25th, 2008 at 2:03 pm
Here’s how I’d arrange the fruit:
http://img233.imageshack.us/img233/6969/fruitda0.png
February 25th, 2008 at 2:05 pm
Ok So I don’t understand your aversion to oranges at all, but other than that I pretty much agree with your graph, though you’ve missed out normal melon..
And the best way to crack a coconut (as long as you don’t want to actually have the juice) is to throw it down a set of solid stairs. Or at least this is what my flatmate and I resorted to last year. We through it down the stairway and it cracked the shell.
February 25th, 2008 at 2:08 pm
[...] this xkcd has caused some debate: Holy crap. This strip’s been up for 800 seconds and it’s already the most controversial thing [...]
February 25th, 2008 at 2:14 pm
I completely disagree with your analysis of the banana. Bananas are wholesome goodness that are delicious when ripe. Even if you don’t like the starchy flavor, they still deserve to be much higher up the easy axis!
Bananas are waaaay easy. Easier than apples for sure
February 25th, 2008 at 2:15 pm
Coconut? No, thanks.
But I’ll open it for you on the table saw, just takes a second.
What? You don’t have a table saw?!
February 25th, 2008 at 2:17 pm
Prickly pears… hands down the worst of the bunch…
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prickly_pear
February 25th, 2008 at 2:23 pm
Seriously, how can so few other people have complained about the absence of the Kiwi??
Also, you should NEVER cook a Kiwi.
Also, I admit that Cantaloupe is a funny word, but rockfruit? Boring…
There are far to many options for this chart to be feasible if they were all included.
February 25th, 2008 at 2:25 pm
T3H C4NTEL0PE MU57 D1E!
February 25th, 2008 at 2:26 pm
“In regards to my previous comment (http://blag.xkcd.com/2008/02/25/fruit-opinions/#comment-13875), I’m scared that this picture came to my mind….
http://xkcd.com/236/”
Hmmmmmm … that does give new meaning to the labels “Easy” and “Difficult”, and that would make the watermelon and the coconut quite difficult….
I don’t even want to contemplate the “Tasty” dimension . . .
February 25th, 2008 at 2:28 pm
So if you make a poster of this, may I recommend vinyl cling stickers? :) And I’m anxiously awaiting the interactive graph…
February 25th, 2008 at 2:32 pm
Has anybody else noticed that half the people disagreeing are saying things along the lines of “you haven’t tried (fruit x) (fromlocationx)/(incircumstancex)”? Cuz I’ve read like 40 of those comments. Just sayin’.
February 25th, 2008 at 2:34 pm
If you don’t eat your fruits, the terrorists will win.
February 25th, 2008 at 2:35 pm
You haven’t tried a banana from Havana in a cabana.
February 25th, 2008 at 2:36 pm
If you’re afraid of not eating your fruits, the terrorists have already won.
February 25th, 2008 at 2:46 pm
oranges suck.
February 25th, 2008 at 2:49 pm
HELL YES. fuck oranges. oranges make me die from allergies, and that is somewhat less easy than even pomegranates.
February 25th, 2008 at 2:55 pm
RAISE TOMATOES!
February 25th, 2008 at 3:02 pm
Kiwis can rot.
The lack of support for blueberries (the best berry and perhaps best fruit) is disheartening, but I will never give up on their noble cause!
February 25th, 2008 at 3:13 pm
Starfruit are the best. As long as you don’t make juice.
February 25th, 2008 at 3:13 pm
While staying in Taiwan, a local showed me the magic trick to open a coconut real fast: He smashed it to the ground as hard as possible. Well, why didn’t I think of that…
February 25th, 2008 at 3:17 pm
The convex hull forms an ocarina…
February 25th, 2008 at 3:39 pm
Why in all that is holy are blueberries so low on the tastiness scale? You’ve clearly been eating some shitty blueberries. (Since it’s currently February, this doesn’t surprise me.)
And fuck apples.
February 25th, 2008 at 3:57 pm
Has anyone else noticed that bananas are opened from the ‘other’ end, depending where you are in the world? In the states, we tend to open them from the “handle” end, while in Central Asia they are usually opened from the other end. My question would be - how do monkeys open them?
I think they are much easier to open from the non-handle end, but now my fellow Americans look at me funny when I do that.
February 25th, 2008 at 4:03 pm
How the hell do you open a banana from the “non-handle” end without a knife of some sorts?
I am such an ignorant United States-ian. Good thing I have Google and found this rather lengthy pontification on banana opening that claims monkeys eat them from the non-stem side:
http://www.slate.com/?id=2067407
February 25th, 2008 at 4:05 pm
So, If anyone would like to create this afore-suggested fruit opinions website, I can provide hosting.
If your interested, email me.
I can do xhtml and css, but no javascript (as anything ajax related would require).
Also sir, your fruit map is way off. Pomegranates should be much higher on the y axis.
February 25th, 2008 at 4:10 pm
Bananas should be higher on tastiness.
February 25th, 2008 at 4:16 pm
By declaring watermelon to be overrated as your justification for its low placement, you are placing it based on other’s opinion of watermelon and not strictly your own opinion. So, it’s not really your taste that is the issue here, but rather your taste subjected to the tastes of others. Do you even have your own opinion at all? Or do you set everyone else as your standard in everything? Pssh.
February 25th, 2008 at 4:20 pm
Have you tried Professor Plum in the Ballroom with the Candlestick?
Granted, candlesticks don’t peel fruit very well, so you might want to use a wrench.
February 25th, 2008 at 4:24 pm
I think I pretty much agree with everything on the chart, especially as I despise grapefruits!!
Also, let it be noted that I have actually tryed to open a coconut with a rock and I couldn’t not agree more, they are too much effort and they don’t even taste nice. In short you are left with massive disapointment and anger at the fact you have lost half hour of you’re life which you will never get back!!!
February 25th, 2008 at 4:33 pm
[...] Reading about today’s xkcd at the xkcd blag (before seeing the comic) 2) Viewing the discussed xkcd comic 3) Reading the title of the [...]
February 25th, 2008 at 4:38 pm
ripe bananas are super disgusting.
green bananas, on the other hand, are wicked delicious and the only kind I’ll eat. They’re tart and not at all mushy. The trick with bananas is to get them green and only eat them when they’ve turned a little bit yellow, although this does make them harder to peel (the skin is stronger and rips)
February 25th, 2008 at 4:39 pm
hahahaha, I read that comic, and immediately became enraged at most of those fruits not being near tasty. I was just trying to find your contact address so I could flame you when I saw this blog. ROFL.
February 25th, 2008 at 4:39 pm
except I agree on canteloupes.
February 25th, 2008 at 4:41 pm
Aww hell I just might write a paper on why your completely wrong about most of these.
February 25th, 2008 at 4:45 pm
I agree with everything except the position of oranges, bananas, and pomegranates. Oh, and the cantaloupe. But otherwise ya, Fuck grapefruit.
February 25th, 2008 at 4:47 pm
Pineapples are fucking disgusting, and I’m very disappointed in you for making them tasty on your chart.
Also, coconuts are awesome! Smashing them to bits with a rock/hammer/machete is the best part!
February 25th, 2008 at 4:51 pm
Cantaloupes are freaking awesome picked off the vine! Melt in your mouth and dribble down your chin awesome…
Though the dribbling might inch the cantaloupe towards the “difficult” end of the graph. :d
February 25th, 2008 at 5:00 pm
Pineapple isn’t that hard if you’ve got a big knife (12 cuts if you have good aim)… and if its a proper ripe one in season… mmmmm… easily the best fruit ever.
And avocado ranks up there on the amazing-flavor fruit scale. Maybe California just doesn’t export the really tasty ones.
Also I see no mention of any sort of pepper… all of those taste damned good.
February 25th, 2008 at 5:08 pm
Strawberries are so overrated and often underwhelming.
The flavor of coconut is great, but not the damn coconut itself.
But oranges?! Oranges are delicious (sometimes)!
I do admit I need to have peaches more often though…
Tomatoes do suck as fruit go, but I don’t mind them at all when I pretend they are a vegetable…
February 25th, 2008 at 5:10 pm
I have to agree with everything you just said and the entirety of that chart and your post.
Fuck grapefruit: it’s a vile large failure attempting to trick us by looking like an orange.
Fuck watermelon: large, sticky and damned near tasteless, oh and it has a bunch of seeds in it you have to pick out.
Fuck cantaloupe: it’s just not that good.
February 25th, 2008 at 5:16 pm
fruitgraph.com needs to be made NOW. It will be legendary, I tell you! LEGENDARY!
February 25th, 2008 at 5:18 pm
Mangoes?!! ewwww! Fuck mangoes!
oh, and canteloupe too. Fuck canteloupe.
February 25th, 2008 at 5:18 pm
Oranges need some love. They are one of the best tasting fruits out there, and though they are difficult, I can eat ten of those in a day. Also, Bananas should be way higher on both deliciosity and ease. How many other fruits actually have their own wrapping to keep your hands from getting dirty?
February 25th, 2008 at 5:25 pm
I don’t know the technical feasibility of this, but is there a way to make an interactive delicious map? Everyone could put known fruit on the chart (simple x,y values seem easy enough) and all the votes are averaged to show where fruit currently stands in the hive mind.
Or would that be hive mouth…
February 25th, 2008 at 5:26 pm
KIWI!!!!! Little reward, but oh so worth the effort. Def should be added to your tasty/difficult area…that and mangoes!
Also, blackberries/raspberries could be added. Although the tasty/easy quadrant is looking a little full.
(…and grapefruit are horrible. bleeech! )
February 25th, 2008 at 5:26 pm
Clucky Says:
> I was going to say that everyone should send mail you their favorite fruit
> to prove how wrong you are. But then I realized that getting hundreds of
> boxes of rotten fruit probably wouldn’t be much fun for you or your
> postman.
Hey, I once did that very thing:
http://www.geofftech.co.uk/iblog/?p=232
Even though I went out specially to buy a really fres