Tag Archives: Canistel

Amusing, Belize, Farming, Food

Adventures in Eating…

Hello There!!  It’s a bright and shiny day today so I feel a bit brighter and shinier.  How interesting that the weather has a lot to with your mood.  Anyway(s), we are doing okay although our never-ending construction has come to a temporary stand-still due to massive pond formations around the house.  Nevertheless, we have braved the days with our usual creativity and Munchkin & Gnome interesting ideas.  Since, we were both stuck inside the house together (with rains), we decided to have some adventures with food.  So, here’s some of the stuff that we got up up to in the kitchen, messing around.

Lotsa aubergines from the farm:

Our Aubergines.

These are very nice cooked on a cast iron grill and served  with a little bit of olive oil drizzled on top.  Yum!!

Grilled Aubergine.

Ahhhh….this one is for the Chinese or the very adventurous; these are stinkhorn mushrooms (aka bamboo pith).  These come out with the rains especially near bamboo patches but generally speaking, they do come up fairly commonly everywhere on our farm in Toledo.

This is a very pretty specimen with a lacy veil.

Bamboo Pith Mushroom.

These mushrooms can also be picked at their young stage (aka known as Witches’ Eggs).

Stink-horn Eggs.

Clean them up, chop them up and put them in soups and stews.  This mushroom imparts a slimey texture kinda like eating fish eyes (ooooh…that’s the Chinese coming out in me…I’m trying to tell it tastes really good….but, you probably think that sounds really awful).  On the other hand, you could also describe them as “land oysters”…there, does that sound more enticing??

Chopped up Bamboo Pith.

We are still going with the gelato; this one is made from canistel which is in season right now.

Canistel.

Canistel kinda tastes like cooked sweet potato.  There is a lot of carbohydrate content in the fruit and this provides a firm texture to ice-cream.  Oh, and we made this on with ground fresh jalapeño.  By the way, I just noticed that the picture looks a bit like a pair of breasts(!).  It wasn’t my intention but there you go!!

Canistel Ice-Cream.

We still have more messing around in the kitchen.  Our 27 cubic feet freezer is in its last death throes.  It’s moaning and groaning and making awful gurgling noises all the time.  Plus, it’s sucking up a whole lot of electricity.  So, the plan is to to can (in ball jars) everything in the freezer until there is nothing left.  Switch it off and let the old freezer rest in peace.  That’s no mean feat if you can guess how much food a Munchkin is capable of hoarding!!

Belize, Farming, Food, Philosophy, Plants, Saving Money

Car Stuff And Farm Stuff!

The last few days, we’ve been having a bit of car trouble; we were driving back home and the fuel warning light came up.  Of course, we didn’t know what that meant so Gnome had to phone up the Toyota dealership to ask them about the light.  This is what he was told over the phone: get a new fuel filter, get a car mechanic to install the fuel filter and then get the mechanic to re-set the warning light.  This is what Gnome did: get a fuel filter, do a Google search on “how to install a fuel filter” and “how to reset a warning light.”

There was enough information on the Internet for a Gnome, without any car mechanic skills whatsoever, to install the fuel filter.  We would ordinarily have just paid to get it done but this time Gnome said to me,

“…wait a minute…between the messing around with a mechanic and paying for it, maybe it’s just easier if I have a go at doing it myself.”

And so he did.  His conclusion was that generally car stuff is quite simple and straight forward and if you actually take the time to read up instructions on the Internet, you can generally get it done yourself.  He did say as an after thought:

“…I’m talking about car stuff…not medical stuff…there are too many people who get on the Internet to make a self diagnosis and get it wrong.”

That for true, I can vouch for that!!  Too many people using Dr Google!!

Anyway, with the car thing, I am really glad that Gnome works with the philosophy of self-reliance and he’s not afraid to learn new things all the time.

Okay, so what’s happening on the farm?  Well, we have some new harvests.  This is suriname cherry which has a lovely resinous taste.  I have taken a picture of one pristine cherry because we seem to have something that is biting holes in all of them.  I can’t spot what is causing it but I think that we have a problem with ants.

Suriname Cherry.

Some nice cayenne chilli  peppers.  Gnome has strung these on a string in the kitchen to dry.

Cayenne Crop.

Oh, and these are canistel.  They taste like sweet potato; we actually eat this with our meals as a carbohydrate substitute.  Our tree is loaded this year! Yay!!

Canistel.
Canistel.

Ooooh…it is really punishingly hot right now!!  Try to keep cool everyone!!

Belize, Food

Coconut and Eggfruit Slices.

Bean.Red.Munchkin.EatingThis recipe is a variation of the coconut squares which I posted a couple of weeks ago…yes the yummy one with the chocolate drizzle!  This one incorporates freshly chopped up eggfruit (canistel) with grated coconut.

Ripe Canistel.
Ripe Canistel.
Grated Coconut.
Grated Coconut.

The ripe canistel tastes like cooked sweet potato and compliments the coconut very well.  This is a treat that is hard to beat!

Coconut Eggfruit Slices.
Coconut Eggfruit Slices.

Check out the full recipe for Coconut Eggfruit Slices.

Belize, Farming, Food

Eating Eggfruit Everyday.

So Hot!!
So Hot!!

Wow!!  It was unbelievably hot today with a temperature of 32oC (90oF) and a realfeel of 47oC (117oF).  How can one get any farm work done??

Anyway, I would like to introduce you to a new fruit in season which goes by a few names including Eggfruit and Canistel (Pouteria campechiana).

Ripe Eggfruit.
Ripe Eggfruit.

This fruit is indigenous to Central America but despite this, it is not found readily in the backyards or jungles of Belize.  Many people, including locals, have never seen or heard of it  and the few people who actually have this tree actively made efforts to procure this particular fruit tree.

It is one of those fruits of Tropics which can never be viably exported because once it is harvested, it needs to be eaten immediately, probably within 48 hours before it starts fermenting.  This fruit comes in different shapes and sizes; some are long and pointed like the picture above and some are more ovoid in shape.  They can be eaten out of hand and in common literature it is described as having the texture of boiled egg yolk (hence the name).  I think it tastes like cooked (mashed) sweet potato and to my palate, because of this carbohydrate taste and texture, it fits more appropriately into savoury dishes.  But that’s just me!!  I read that other people make ice cream and milk shakes out of this fruit.

We always look forward to canistel season which usually falls into September and October.  We have four baring trees and they can be very generous hence the reason why we are eating eggfruit everyday.  This of course, calls for a lot of imagination because if you eat them the same way everyday, you will naturally get bored of them. So here are a few pictures of my canistel creations.  By the way, some pictures include pumpkin…

Lots of Pumpkin!
Lots of Pumpkin!

…so, to be more accurate, we are eating eggfruit and pumpkin everyday!!

Mashed Canistel (like mashed potato):

Mashed Canistel.
Mashed Canistel.

Canistel seared on a skillet:

Canistel in Skillet.
Canistel in Skillet.

Avocado stuffed with young pumpkin and canistel.

Stuffed Avocado.
Stuffed Avocado.

Seared Canistel with Pumpkin and Spicy Sausage with Steamed Callaloo.

Canistel Pumpkin Dish.
Canistel Pumpkin Dish.

There are more pictures which I will post them as recipes over the next week or so.

Go forth and find some Eggfruit to eat…they are yummy!!