A lot helps a lot: That has always been my motto when cooking. I think dishes like curry and co. need taste. That’s why my spice rack is jam-packed – but so far I’ve only ever had cinnamon up my sleeve for fruit. While I am usually very experimental, I usually seasoned fruit little or not at all. That is about to change with Fruping’s toppings: the start-up thinks it’s time to get more out of fruit. The two founders are now taking their approach to “The Lion’s Den”. We tested the three fruit toppings in advance.
Florian Hornig and Marcel Büttner are behind Fruping, two best friends who have known each other since school in Sauerland. The two couldn’t get their minds off the question of why fruit usually tastes the same and why it is so unusual to season it – and they developed the basic idea for their start-up. This was also inspired by Hornig’s trip to Mexico, where he got to know many spices and where they were used in a variety of ways. From the Rhineland it later went to Cologne, where the fruit toppings are also produced. The founders are now presenting the three varieties they have developed on the Vox show “Die Höhle der Löwen”. They come without artificial aromas or flavor enhancers and are intended to get the best out of the fruit in a completely natural way. We wanted to know if they keep their promises.
Handling is simple and the word topping already implies it: the three spices from Fruping are primarily intended to be added to foods such as yoghurt, muesli, fruit salad or even avocados. But that doesn’t mean that you can’t add them to the dough when baking, for example. We used all three strains differently to test their versatility. It is very easy to use: simply add the desired amount of spice to the food and you’re done. And already the taste should be more intense and exciting – without any additional spices.
The mixtures are already packed and make a respectable impression. But the first smear comes before you try it: opening the can is not that easy. The packaging, which is apparently made of solid cardboard and is therefore more sustainable than others (plus point!), cannot be opened by hand without damage. I was also concerned that the content would tip over if I tried to force it. So I needed a knife to get the lid off – which turned out to be a bit fiddly. After the initial difficulties, however, testing could begin.
So far, Fruping from DHDL is available in three varieties: Dark Coconut, Sweet Hibiscus and Lemon Chili. The possible uses and range of aromas are therefore quite large. We tried our way through all varieties and tested the spices as toppings and as ingredients in different dishes.
First up was the Dark Coconut variety. According to the two founders, it is particularly suitable for combining with banana, apple, strawberry, orange or pear. The mix contains coconut flakes in a cocoa shell and ground dates refined with cinnamon and cloves. A sweet mix that is very aromatic and a little bit Christmassy. As a topping in my oatmeal porridge with banana and apple, it looks wonderful and gives the rather down-to-earth dish sophistication. You don’t need more than the spice to give breakfast more aroma and a completely different note. Fruping is productive: a heaping tablespoon is enough as a topping for a special taste.
And as an ingredient in my beloved banana bread, Dark Coconut from Fruping is also very good. I added three tablespoons of the mix to my usual recipe – and ended up with an even more pronounced, subtle taste. For me, the mix should be a little more aromatic and intense. But it’s definitely suitable for a new, more exciting aroma. And even for snacking directly from the can. It tastes natural and harmonious and is not too sweet.
Pure snacking, on the other hand, is not so recommended with the next variety: Sweet Hibiscus is, as the name suggests, also a sweet mix. The combination of the superfood hibiscus, coconut flakes and ground dates is also a little sour and therefore less suitable for pure enjoyment, but wonderful for seasoning due to the variety of tastes. It’s certainly a bit more unusual than the Dark Coconut variant, but also brings more freshness and less wintry flavor. The mixture is recommended for peach, raspberry, strawberry, banana or even pear and actually goes very well with these flavors. It tastes especially good as a topping on muesli and adds more spice to an otherwise rather monotonous breakfast.
I was more skeptical about the third variety from Fruping compared to the other two: Is the combination of chili, sea salt and lime zest really good for fruit? Avocado, cucumber, melon, coconut, pineapple are recommended, but also apples, to be seasoned with lemon chili. Certainly the most unusual, but possibly the most exciting, that’s my first thought. And it turned out to be true: This spice mixture brings the most excitement to the dish. It only takes a little of the mix to create a whole new taste and to really get a lot out of fruit that is not very aromatic. The flavors of the mixture harmonize very well with the recommended varieties, it is especially delicious on avocado and cucumber. I also use lemon chili to season shrimp, for example – seafood is kind of “fruit”. For me, the variety that is the most exciting and that can also be used very well in everyday life for other dishes.
You read it: All three Fruping varieties definitely passed the taste test. They are easy to use, because apart from the spice mixture, no other spices are needed. In addition, they are economical, have a natural aroma and an absolutely fair price-performance ratio. All three varieties enrich my spice rack and I now like to use them: At breakfast I look forward to refining muesli or porridge with something sweet, my egg and avocado breads have become even more delicious and unusual with lemon chili. The possible uses are therefore large. Why haven’t we seasoned our fruit before? Probably out of (un)habit. It is definitely recommended.
However, since this rating is a matter of taste in the truest sense of the word, it remains to be seen whether the two founders of Fruping will meet the taste of the investors. 70,000 euros are desired for 20 percent of the company shares. You can see whether a lion will bite tonight from 8:15 p.m. on Vox.
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