{"id":1430,"date":"2009-08-20T15:13:40","date_gmt":"2009-08-20T22:13:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.calnative.com\/blog\/?p=1430"},"modified":"2009-08-20T15:13:40","modified_gmt":"2009-08-20T22:13:40","slug":"fruit-fresh-and-fancy-in-costa-rica","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.calnative.com\/blog\/fruit-fresh-and-fancy-in-costa-rica\/","title":{"rendered":"Fruit: Fresh and Fancy in Costa Rica"},"content":{"rendered":"

Costa Rica<\/a> has always been known as an excellent destination for the outdoor adventurer<\/a> or bird watcher<\/a>.\u00a0Another attraction to this peaceful, central American country is the fact that Costa Rica<\/a> is a fruit-lover\u2019s paradise.\u00a0Having a warm tropical climate year round makes Costa Rica a perfect place for growing a wide variety of fruits.\u00a0Fresh pineapples, tree-ripe bananas, and delicious coconuts are just a few of the delicacies to be enjoyed there.\u00a0Add buttery papayas and juicy mangoes to the list and you\u2019ve got a true Costa Rican fruit cocktail.\u00a0Many of these fruits you can readily find in supermarkets across the U. S. (and there is a good chance that many of them come from Costa Rica) but some of the more exotic fruits require a passport to taste.\"\"<\/p>\n

Included among these exotic fruits are Mamones, Tamarindo, and Pejibayes.\u00a0Curious names for equally curious tastes, these gems highlight the diversity of fruit-filled Costa Rica.<\/p>\n

Mamones Chinos (mem-MO-nays<\/em>), or Chinese Suckers, are pit fruits whose skins are covered with soft red spines.\u00a0You may have heard them called by the name lychee<\/em>.\u00a0Lychees or Mamones Chinos are slightly sweet, not very acidic, and have a chewy texture similar to that of a peeled grape. Their subtle flavor is addictive.\u00a0The spiny skins are fun to peel into and resemble the seed pod of a Gum tree. Sold in big bags by street vendors, Mamones have unique taste that is not soon forgotten.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Another Costa Rican delicacy comes from the seed pod of the Tamarind tree.\u00a0Tamarindo looks like a pea pod that you might find in a salad or a stir fry, except they are fuzzy on the outside like a Kiwi or a the skin of a fuzzy peach.\u00a0Inside the pod, the seeds are sticky and pasty and too bitter to eat.\u00a0However, if you soak the seeds in hot water you can extract the flavor.\u00a0 Even then, the mixture may have too strong a flavor, but if a simple syrup is added to sweeten the mixture and then the beverage is poured over ice, the fresh tamarindo drink becomes a refreshing treat similar in flavor and texture to apple juice.\"\"<\/p>\n

The Pejibaye is probably one of the strangest fruits to be tasted in Costa Rica.\u00a0Pronounced pay hee bah jay<\/em>, this palm fruit tastes like a cross between potato and coconut.\u00a0The Pejibaye is similar in size to a pecan and contains a hard pit that needs to be removed before eating.\u00a0Like the tamarindo, the pejibaye is prepared by boiling the fruit in water.\u00a0 Locals often serve the fruit with a dollop of mayonnaise and a cup of hot coffee.\u00a0This exotic flavor is hearty.<\/p>\n

Join us on a vacation in Costa Rica: adventure, fun, good food, and last but not least, fruit as fine as any in the world.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Costa Rica has always been known as an excellent destination for the outdoor adventurer or bird watcher.\u00a0Another attraction to this peaceful, central American country is the fact that Costa Rica is a fruit-lover\u2019s paradise.\u00a0Having a warm tropical climate year round makes Costa Rica a perfect place for growing a wide variety of fruits.\u00a0Fresh pineapples, tree-ripe … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “Fruit: Fresh and Fancy in Costa Rica”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[42],"tags":[15,244,33,35,13,14],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.calnative.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1430"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.calnative.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.calnative.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.calnative.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.calnative.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1430"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.calnative.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1430\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.calnative.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1430"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.calnative.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1430"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.calnative.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1430"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}