Fruits Galore

I consider myself a fruit lover…I like to eat strawberries by the quart, bananas on my cereal, and on occasion I have cried when my mom gave the rest of the raspberries to my sister because I had already eaten the lion’s share. You can just imagine my delight when I visit the market in Bolivia and see exotic fruits that I have never tried before. During training I had paqui (this strange banana-shaped fruit with a hard rind and fuzzy white interior with big black seeds) and this other citrusy fruit whose name fails me now (it is a cross between a passion fruit and a lemon). I savored the 40 cent giant pineapples and 60 cent papayas and relished the sweet bananas with real flavor and the best mangoes I’ve ever eaten. I gobbled down sour starfruits (or carambolas if you will) and am eagerly awaiting the Peach Fair that takes place in my town every March. My most recent discovery is the cherimoya (aka custard apple). It’s a mushy blob of flesh inside with big black seeds and quite tasty. Might be a new entry on my top 10 favorite fruits list but I’ll have to do some internet research to see if any damage can be done from daily consumption. I also purchased recently what I believe are cactus pears (aka the prickly pear) which I wasn’t so fond of. It had way too many seeds that were difficult to remove (although according to the description in my Better Homes and Gardens cookbook you can eat the seeds) but ruined the texture and flavor when eaten whole.