You need to make a solution of 6 parts water and 1 part regular vinegar. Submerge produce in the solution and scrub, then rinse. You can use this same solution to clean everything that you buy for that day.
Now, onto some of the fruits that I have learned about here in Ecuador. These are some of the most popular:
Pitihaya
This cactus fruit (also known as dragon fruit) comes from the jungle region of Ecuador. It is yellow when ripe and should have a little give with pressed. You slice off the end, and then you can peel it easily with your hand. It reminded me of a kiwi, only white inside. You can eat it in chunks (with the seeds), or put the chunks in the blender and make a drink with a little added sweetener and plain yogurt.
Babaco
This fruit can be bought when green and allowed to ripen at home, turning yellow when ripe. It is the size of a small papaya. The fruit is semi-acidic, but mild in flavor, white in color with the seeds contained in a stringy pulp down the middle. To prepare it, slice off the bottom and then slice down each of the 5 grooves along the side of the fruit. Then you can take out each portion separately and remove the stringy pulp. It is most often cooked in sugar water, or can be used in salads, made into juice, served as a sauce, or baked into a cake. It tastes similar to strawberry-papaya-kiwi-pineapple.
Uvilla
This small yellow-orange grapelike fruit is also called cape gooseberry or ground cherry. It has anti-aging and anti-inflammatory properties. It can be eaten whole, used in fruit salads, or make into a jam.
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| This is zucchini bread, topped with yogurt and uvilla jam (delicious). |
Bananas
There are many different kinds of bananas:
- Guineos or Platanos de Seda: the regular yellow bananas we're used to eating.
- Oritos: very small finger-like bananas. I like these the best because they taste sweet with an apple-like flavor.
- Platano Rosado: pink skin with pink pulp.
- Plaintains:
- Barraganete: pointed ends; long and flat; best used green. Can fry or use in soups.
- Dominico: pointed ends; smaller than the barraganete.
- Maqueno: rounded ends; sweetest and softest of the plaintains when cooked. Use when yellow and firm.
- Platano Maduro: ripe plaintains. Peel, slice and fry.
- Platano Verde: unripe green plaintains. Slice thin and fry "chifles".
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| Different kinds of bananas |
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| Platano Maduro con queso -- grilled in skin with La Chanta cheese on top |
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| Our dessert: Emborrajado |
