Before I moved to live in Yucatan, Mexico, I fantasized about the tropical breakfasts I had eaten when on holiday there. For hotel breakfasts we were usually served very fresh and tasty melon, papaya and watermelon. Little did I know what a fabulous selection of exotic looking and tasting fruits were available for the more adventurous foodie! This article will explore some of the delicious fruits little known outside the Yucatan.
The most exotic of them all is the pitahaya - or dragon fruit. Pitahaya is the mayan name for this extraordinary cactus fruit. When the flowers open, always at night, they give out a glorious perfume, and by morning have faded away. These beautiful flowers morph themselves into the pitahaya fruit, whose smooth skin has the most fabulous fuchsia colour and little green wings. Cut it open, and you will find greyish-white juicy flesh with lots of tiny edible pips, rather like those of the kiwi fruit. With a subtle sweet and slightly nutty flavour, the pitahaya can be served sliced up just on its own with a squeeze of lemon, or liquidized to make a refreshing fruit drink.
I was introduced to the saramuyo a few years ago, and was not impressed by the fact that it was filled with large seeds, and to eat it you had to suck each seed to get just a little flesh. However, I recently decided to give it another chance, but to do it my way, in the way an Inglateca (English/Yucatecan) would do it. A member of the anona family, it is known elsewhere as sugar apple, or sweetsop, and has soft, green, scaly skin, typical of anonas. I scooped out the seed-filled flesh into a sieve suspended over a mixing bowl, and with a wooden spoon stirred it around and around. A thick purée emerged which tasted exquisite. Forget about sucking each seed. When you have a real mouthful or three of a subtle, light, vanilla custard-flavoured purée, you think you must have died and gone to heaven.
When my Goan friend came to stay, she came back from the market beside herself with joy, and a large bag of sapotes. She cried out 'chikus, chikus, I found some chikus'. She has lived in London for many years, and was missing the fruit from her childhood in India. Said to be of Yucatecan origin, the sapote has many names outside Mexico, including chiku in India. Nearly round in shape, it has brown skin, and a dark brownish-green shade of sweet flesh that is soft and juicy and tastes similar to a pear.
A member of the sapote family, the mamey is a large oval-shaped fruit looking like a rugby ball. It has rough brown skin with orange/reddish coloured flesh. The 'meaty' flesh is best eaten sliced, with a squeeze of lemon. The flavour is somewhere between pumpkin, sweet potato, apricot, raspberry and mango, and can be seasoned with cinnamon and ginger.
All of these exotic fruits may be eaten on their own, mixed in a salad, or combined with a little water and made into refreshing fruit drinks. They can also be made into delicious fruit sorbets, each one producing its subtle individual flavour and colour. Sweet enough on their own, it is never necessary to add sugar.
If you are planning to visit the Yucatan, Mexico, don't miss out on a chance to visit a local market, and see if you can find some of these exquisite and exotic fruits. I always eat local foods wherever I travel, as they are part of the cultural experience of that country. The experience of eating local tropical fruit will give you an unforgettable taste of Yucatan.
Elizabeth Arnott is English, and has lived for more than ten years in Merida, Yucatan. She is very happy to be integrated into the Mexican way of life, and loves to share her experiences and insights into her adopted country.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Elizabeth_Arnott
The most exotic of them all is the pitahaya - or dragon fruit. Pitahaya is the mayan name for this extraordinary cactus fruit. When the flowers open, always at night, they give out a glorious perfume, and by morning have faded away. These beautiful flowers morph themselves into the pitahaya fruit, whose smooth skin has the most fabulous fuchsia colour and little green wings. Cut it open, and you will find greyish-white juicy flesh with lots of tiny edible pips, rather like those of the kiwi fruit. With a subtle sweet and slightly nutty flavour, the pitahaya can be served sliced up just on its own with a squeeze of lemon, or liquidized to make a refreshing fruit drink.
I was introduced to the saramuyo a few years ago, and was not impressed by the fact that it was filled with large seeds, and to eat it you had to suck each seed to get just a little flesh. However, I recently decided to give it another chance, but to do it my way, in the way an Inglateca (English/Yucatecan) would do it. A member of the anona family, it is known elsewhere as sugar apple, or sweetsop, and has soft, green, scaly skin, typical of anonas. I scooped out the seed-filled flesh into a sieve suspended over a mixing bowl, and with a wooden spoon stirred it around and around. A thick purée emerged which tasted exquisite. Forget about sucking each seed. When you have a real mouthful or three of a subtle, light, vanilla custard-flavoured purée, you think you must have died and gone to heaven.
When my Goan friend came to stay, she came back from the market beside herself with joy, and a large bag of sapotes. She cried out 'chikus, chikus, I found some chikus'. She has lived in London for many years, and was missing the fruit from her childhood in India. Said to be of Yucatecan origin, the sapote has many names outside Mexico, including chiku in India. Nearly round in shape, it has brown skin, and a dark brownish-green shade of sweet flesh that is soft and juicy and tastes similar to a pear.
A member of the sapote family, the mamey is a large oval-shaped fruit looking like a rugby ball. It has rough brown skin with orange/reddish coloured flesh. The 'meaty' flesh is best eaten sliced, with a squeeze of lemon. The flavour is somewhere between pumpkin, sweet potato, apricot, raspberry and mango, and can be seasoned with cinnamon and ginger.
All of these exotic fruits may be eaten on their own, mixed in a salad, or combined with a little water and made into refreshing fruit drinks. They can also be made into delicious fruit sorbets, each one producing its subtle individual flavour and colour. Sweet enough on their own, it is never necessary to add sugar.
If you are planning to visit the Yucatan, Mexico, don't miss out on a chance to visit a local market, and see if you can find some of these exquisite and exotic fruits. I always eat local foods wherever I travel, as they are part of the cultural experience of that country. The experience of eating local tropical fruit will give you an unforgettable taste of Yucatan.
Elizabeth Arnott is English, and has lived for more than ten years in Merida, Yucatan. She is very happy to be integrated into the Mexican way of life, and loves to share her experiences and insights into her adopted country.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Elizabeth_Arnott