Have you ever thought that there is a world full of aromas and flavors out there that you are missing out? Well, it’s never too late! Here are my top 5 tropical fruits you need to taste before you die!
1) Guava: This is one of the best fruits I have ever tried. It is cultivated in Central and South America and it is often called Guajava. There are a lot of different species and colors and all of them are very tasty! In Latin America we often drink fruit juice at lunch and this is one of the most popular fruits for juicing or canning. This fruit is 100% eatable; there is no need to peel it!
The pulp of this fruit is also commonly used to do pastes and sweets. In some countries in Latin America, a simple snack of sweet guava paste, cheese and cookies can make your day better.
2) Maracuya or Passion Fruit: If you haven’t tried this fruit you are really missing something delicious in your life! As the name suggests this fruit is the perfect mix between sweet and bitter, a lot of sensations in just one fruit! Before you eat it, shake it to know how much flesh is inside and choose the one you want to eat. The outer part of this fruit can be really large but the real amount of flesh is inside this large skin!
The simplest way to eat it is just cutting the fruit into two pieces and taking out the inner part with a spoon. Adding a little bit of sugar will give it an extra flavor, simply yummy.
3) Pineapple: If you still think that Pineapples grow up on large trees and have only tried canned Pineapple, you have to taste a real Pineapple! Although the leaves of the plant can be up to 1 meter long, the plant itself is very short. The pineapple is created from the flowers of the plant and it looks like this:
How to peel a pineapple
To know if a Pineapple is ripe and good to eat you may look the color and aspect of the leaves. Generally a good pineapple has a golden –yellow color, it smells sweet (but not fermented) and the leaves are still green. To eat it you can simply peel off the outer part of the fruit with a knife, cut it in slides or in a half and eat it after removing the central part of the fruit. It is not bad to eat the hard central part but it is simply not as tasty as the flesh.
4) Lulo or Naranjilla: The scientific name of this fruit is Solanum quitoens and is from the North Western part of South America. This fruit taste like heaven! If you could taste the word “peace” it would taste like a Lulo! You can peel it and make juice out of eat.
5) Physalis or Uchuva: This is a small delicious snack you need to try at least once in your life! This fruit is magic! To eat it just remove the leaves and eat the inner part.
Don’t forget to wash the fruits before eat them, take the time to feel their smell and close your eyes when you taste them. Simply magic!
And for you? What is your favorite fruit?
