Here is a gallery of fruits in season. We are so fortunate that even with the extended dry season, the fruit trees still continue to bear. Mangoes are my definite favourite; I remember buying them in the supermarket in Scotland and they were as hard as rocks. Sometimes they wouldn’t even ripen at all! It’s wonderful that I don’t need to buy these from the supermarket anymore…I have them in my own backyard.
Mangoes On Tree.Little Wild Mangoes.
This is the season for mamey sapote; when you cut them in half, the flesh is orange-brown with a thick consistency like avocado. They have a very intense caramel flavour and are best eaten chilled.
Mamey Sapote.Mamey Sapote.
The wax apples are starting on our trees; however with the drought, they look very small. The upside of this is that due to the reduced water content in them, they are very sweet.
A ripe mamey sapote is soft to the touch when you press hard with thumb and fore-finger. Cut around the shell lengthwise (like an avocado) to obtain the two halves of the fruit with a central large seed. Remove the seed and spoon out the pulp to eat. The flesh should come off easily in a ripe fruit. You can eat this fruit out of hand or you can transform it into a savoury burger meal:
Maney Sapote Beef Burgers.
This is a unique and tasty way of eating this tropical fruit. Mamey sapote has a reddish-brown, smooth and creamy flesh with a sweet flavour reminiscent of caramelised brown sugar. This marries very well with beef giving a caramel velvetiness to the ubiquitous burger.
We often get used to our surroundings so that we do not even consider that normal, everyday things can be viewed as a unique experience or an opportunity for creativity. I often talk about my Wednesdays in Punta Gorda but I have not realised until now that it is a perfect opportunity to show you our world of Toledo, Belize.
The town market is busiest on Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays. The market stalls are located all the way down Front Street. Most stalls contain the usual stuff like onions, carrots, sweet peppers, cilantro and tomatoes. The usual fruits are papayas, pineapples, limes and whatever is in season. Mamey sapote are in season right now; these two specimens have not ripened yet but I will be sure to post a tasting once they are ready to eat.
Mamey Sapote.
There is actually not a whole lot of variety from stall to stall but if you take some time to look, there are some interesting things.
Market Stall.
If you care to walk all the way to the end of the stalls, which is about 100 yards, you will come across the smaller vendors. These are usually Mayans from far away villages who bring a couple of pig tail buckets to sell of anything that they can find in their backyard, forest or village. This is where you find more unusual foods.
Here, I found a lady selling young pumpkins. These can be cooked and eaten like zucchini (or courgettes, if you are European).
Young Pumpkin.
I also found a jar of ground, toasted pumpkin seeds:
Ground Toasted Pumpkin Seed.
And, this is what we had for lunch. Steamed young pumpkin seasoned with the pumpkin seed condiment. This is an example for taking some very simple ingredients to make something delicious and fresh.
Steamed Pumpkin with Pumpkin Seed Condiment.
Oh, last but not least. A visit to the ubiquitous Chinese store affords some opportunity for giggles if you take the time to peruse over flayed meat. This is what I found next to the Dak…looking for a Bra?!!!
Bra Luncheon Meat.
Bra’s Luncheon Meat comes in Chicken and Pork flavours from Brazil, of course. Check out the serving suggestions…don’t they make you salivate with anticipation?
Here is a gallery of fruits in season. We are so fortunate that even with the extended dry season, the fruit trees still continue to bear. Mangoes are my definite favourite; I remember buying them in the supermarket in Scotland and they were as hard as rocks. Sometimes they wouldn’t even ripen at all! It’s wonderful that I don’t need to buy these from the supermarket anymore…I have them in my own backyard.
