La Comida, Parte 1: Las Frutas

Wow. I can't believe it's taken me this long to talk about the food in Peru. Maybe it's because it's pretty damn good, and I've been too busy eating it. I will probably write more about food in later blog entries because there is so much to talk about. In the first installment of my food chronicles, I want to talk about fruit. I went to the market last weekend with Henry and Juana (the parents of my host family), and discovered more about the many fruits that, as an Uh-mur-ken, I have neither seen nor even heard of before my adventure to Peru. For example...

As you may know, there are many different varieties of bananas throughout the world. The banana that we eat in the States is the Cavendish, and I think I remember hearing that the species is being threatened by some predator. The bananas here are not too exotic, and I'm actually bit disappointed by them.

There are a lot of melons. The Pepino is a little melon that, so I'm told, is a close relative to the cucumber. The Pepino, however, is round, about the size of a baseball, and is a pale yellow with purple stripes. It tastes similar to a melon you'd find in the states, but with less of that gross melon flavor.

Membrillos, Tunas, Pepios, and Manzanas

Juana bought me some membrillos to try out. Membrillos the look and texture of apples. But when you bite into one, you discover that it's dry and sour, like a lemon was genetically intertwined with the apple. A little difficult to eat raw, it is a great fruit for tarts and mermeladas.

One of my favorite new fruits is the Maracuya, a little, round, yellow, slightly withered peice of fruit. I had first seen it as a flavor of ice cream. Jauna also bought me a Maracuya to try, and I was anxious to give it a taste. She cut it open, and inside were seeds surrounded by a gel-like goo. I scooped out a spoonful, popped it in my mouth, and quickly realized what a bad idea that was. I have never tasted bitter of that quality. My mouth contorted, my eyes released tears, and I jumped up and down. Whew!! I was glad to get that down. I had a few more bites, but saved the rest to be mixed with sugar (lots of sugar) and water for some juice.

Maracuya A similar fruit is the Granadilla (aka Passion Fruit). It contains seeds without the extremely bitterness of the Maracuya.

Granadilla

On the streets, many Quechua women sell Tuna (not the fish). Tuna is the bud of a cactus plant that is cut to remove the cactus shell and reveal a fleshy green inside witha bunch of hard seeds. It tastes a little melony, and has seeds that ou're not supposed to chew outright, but gum and swallow. Not bad.

That's it for the fruits for now. I'll be back with more about food later.

More pictures HERE.