Lots More Fruit

We've tried a lot more fruit over that last little while, and I've saved them all for one big post. I want to remember all the things we've had, so here we go:

These are granadias. They are very similar to Maracuya (aka Passion Fruit), but not quite as tart and tangy-they're better. They're actually one of the first exotic fruits we ate in Ecuador and we really liked them. The outside is a firm shell that is easily cracked open to find hundreds of little seeds encased in a juicy membrane. The person who gave us one called them 'monkey boogers.' Guess that's a good way to describe them. But you just spoon or slurp the seeds out and eat them whole. Sweet, juicy, yummy, and fun to eat!

This is another really good fruit, the babaco. Another name is mountain papaya, and it originated in the highlands of Ecuador. When it's cut in half, you see the cute star shape. It's seedless so the entire thing is edible, including the skin. We decided though, that the fruit isn't very good eaten plain, but it make a delicious juice when blended up! It's sweet but not too sweet, it has a sort of pineapple-apple-pear flavor. Yum.

I know these don't look too exotic, but they are red bananas. They're pretty much the same as regular yellow bananas, but a little more plump, a little more sweet, and the inside has more of a creamy-peach tint. Ecuadorians often use them in cooking.

This is a sapote. There are several varieties, but I think this is just considered a South American sapote. It's not very good at all. I has the texture of a pumkin- a bit stringy. It also tastes like pumpkin, maybe a little sweeter. Not very good to eat plain. We've eaten another variety of sapote called a Mamey, and it was really good and sweet. It's more football shaped and has a big black seed in the middle. We didn't get a picture of that one.

This large fruit is a guanabana, also known as soursop. It's related to the cherimoya which we wrote about before. It's often prepared into a juice, which is how we first tried it and we really liked it. We decided to buy one to make our own juice, but quickly learned that was a bad idea. Inside there are hundreds of black seeds, each individually encased in the fleshy fruit pockets so you have to squeeze each seed out one at a time. It's quite messy and very time-consuming.

This last fruit is called achotillo. It's related to the lychee, and is known as rambutan most everywhere else in the world. Ecuador is the only country that calls it achotillo. They are native to southeast Asia. I like that they are bright and colorful and unique looking. Inside is the oval fruit- translucent juicy flesh surrounding a big seed. The texture reminds me of a grape. They are good, but you don't get a lot of fruit from them so I wasn't a huge fan.