The world of gastronomy is changing, and more and more foodies are looking for new flavors in food and drink with which to satisfy their exquisite palate. And in a world where it seems that almost nothing can surprise us, foods arrive that have been right under our noses all our lives and, suddenly, because of fashion, they become authentic delicatessen. Such is the case of avocados (which, by the way, are causing addiction among young people), kale (also known as leaf cabbage), hummus that nobody wanted on their table before or quinoa, a cereal that has been served as food for vegetarians (quite cheap, by the way) in different countries and that has only been revered as a "superfood" on our table for a few years.

But discovering this type of new food not only gives us the opportunity to expand our palate but also to discover what gastronomy is like in other parts of the world. For example, new varieties of fruit that we didn't even know existed, such as an apple variety that a user of the Reddit social media wanted to share with other users: the black diamond from Tibet, and I got to know about it once I came to India.

It seems that we were limited to eating green, red or yellow apples, but no, because there is also a very dark purple type of apple, almost black; and that as you may have guessed from its name, it is a very peculiar variety and difficult to obtain, more than anything because it is only grown in the mountains of Tibet.

These peculiar apples are a variety of China's Hua Niu apples (also known as Black Dimond apples in the country), which get their rich dark hue thanks to the geographical conditions for their cultivation: only this type of apples can be found in the Nyingchi region, 3,100 meters above sea level; where there are also quite drastic temperature differences during day and night, which means that, among other things, the apples get direct sunlight, with its corresponding ultraviolet rays, which are responsible for their natural color going from Hua Niu red to dark purple and shiny, even cerulean at night.

Given the growing conditions, these apples also have the peculiarity that they grow more slowly than the traditional apple (if a normal apple tree takes from 2 to 5 years, this variety would take up to 8 years), and only 30% of the harvest reaches the requirements for subsequent marketing so it is a very limited fruit.

Those responsible for its production are Dandong Tianluo Sheng Nong E-commerce Trade Co., a Chinese company that, at the moment, is the only one that produces this type of variety, since minority farmers do not want to risk growing such a select variety that you need so many special conditions to get benefits. The Chinese company has been selling them in limited edition since 2015 in selected supermarkets in the Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen regions. According to Tencent News, the price of these "black diamonds" would be about 8 dollars each. Despite its high price, it is not the most expensive in the world, since the Japanese variety Sekai Ichi costs an average of 21 dollars each.

As mentioned before, the downside of the original Black Diamond is that its maturation process can take up to eight years, which discourages many farmers from carrying out this type of cultivation.

There is also a variety that grows in the United States, the Arkansas Black Apples, which is very similar in color. This variety ranges from reddish burgundy to almost black. (Photo source)

We tend to think that the varieties of this fruit do not go beyond red, green, or yellow, despite the fact that it is estimated that there are more than 7,500 types. So many that it would take 20 years to taste them all :D

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