Things that Rhyme with Coyote

Wednesday, August 8, 2012

I will admit right upfront that I am a naive American. I guess I also have to admit that unwittingly, and certainly with no arrogance intended, I thought the center of the universe was the United States...or better said, the world revolved around the United States. What I'm getting at is that I thought every fruit and vegetable known to mankind could be bought in the United States. I honestly, truly, naively thought that all those beautiful exotic fruits (kiwi, mangos, papayas, and pineapple) and vegetables (yucca, bok choy, and cilantro) found in the U.S. supermarkets were all that existed in the world.

And then I came to Costa Rica.

So far, I've seen very few fruits and vegetables that I would see in the U.S. (just tomatoes, onions, carrots, potatoes and bananas). What I have seen are many, many others that are so unusual in name, texture and taste, that I really feel like I'm in some other world.

Let's start with the things that rhyme with coyote. There are zapotes, elotes (corn on the cob), camotes (tastes like sweet potato), chayotes, and jocotes. I can't say I've had zapotes, but elotes are good dripping in butter (American-style). I had camotes mixed with plaintains, yams and potatoes with roast beef and they were good. Peeled chayotes sort of look like a peeled green apple, but have no flavor and few calories...I guess they must have some nutrients else why would we eat them? And jocotes...well they are really different. I bought a bag on the street the other day. I was practically mugged when I went in the school (only a slight exaggeration.)They are that popular! They are about the size of an Italian prune with a large pit in the middle. They dip the green ones in salt. The red ones are sweeter, ripe and juicy. I didn't really care for the taste or the texture. It was almost like they were both juicy and powdery inside.

There is also yuca, not to be confused with yucca. It, too, is a root that is really not a fruit or vegetable, but is apparently not the same root as  yucca. It is potato-like and delicious cooked with other vegetables and meat. KFC has both french fries and yuca fries, depending on your preferences. They also offer biscuits like in the states, but corn tortillas if you prefer those.

Oranges and mandarins are green here, not orange. I don't know why. A few guys have a shopping cart filled with them on the street outside the school and will fresh squeeze juice for you if you want to start your day with a little Vitamin C.

Platanos (plaintains) are very popular. Maduros are made from the ripe ones, fried or baked---very delicious. Patacones are made from the green ones, sliced, fried in oil and salted. Also very delicious.

Pejibaye is a palm tree fruit, cooked and eaten with mayonnaise.

The most unusual fruit I've ever seen is the mamon chino. It is a small red fruit with long soft spines or spikes. It kind of looks like a cross between a sea urchin and a koosh ball. They are supposed to taste good, but I can't get up the nerve to try it. Take a look and see what you think:
http://www.cupotico.com/info/General/Mamones.html

Buen provecho!