On our first full day in Colombia we scheduled a tour with Bogota Bike Tours. One of the highlights of this highly recommended tour and wonderful introduction to Bogota and Colombia, was a stop at a local fruit market. Our tour guide, Mike, an ex-journalist from the USA, explained that there are over 400 varieties of fruit in Colombia.
Like many people, I like fruit but am normally limited to commonly available fruits; bananas, apples, peaches, melons, and of course oranges especially as a juice which is readily available in the streets here.
All these fruits are overwhelming and I would have liked to try more, but so interesting to go outside one’s box and try new tastes. First was the large green Guanabana fruit.
The white pulpy Guanabana fruit makes a delicious and refreshing juice.
Pithaya or dragonfruit. Probably my favorite. Soft texture, easy to eat, and oh so delicious.
Feijoa, a small green oblong fruit with a tasty white inside.
Next were a few Gulupas or passionfruits. Also among my favorites with their flowerlike scent and juicy fruit and crunchy seeds.
Though the Grenadilla a firm but not hard passionfruit that you can split open with your hands is my favorite passionfruit.
Zapote, a soft and flavorful taste.
There were several tomato like fruits. They were ok but not my favorite;
After the tomato tree fruits I needed a boost so tried one of the several mango varieties. All the mangos were tasty.
By this time I was getting full and I wanted to save room for one of my favorites, Aguacate or Avocado. Several varieties beyond the Haas which is common. The avocados are so good here I like to eat them plain with just a bit of salt.
Further exploring the market there were plenty of vegetables and roots as well.
Yucca is a staple here and often replaces a potato as a side dish to meat.
There were some interesting items that I have no idea what they were:
After all those fruits I felt the need for a hot drink. I usually have tea but Mika is a coffee drinker. I can’t stand the stuff having had only one cup in my 66 years. But I suppose most people do so here is a Colombia coffee which Mika said was quite good.
We stopped at a Chocolate store though were we sampled cacao beans. Colombia is not one of the world’s biggest producers. The top 3 are The Ivory Coast, Ghana, and Indonesia. The cacao beans are interesting but pure chocolate is oh so bitter. I prefer my chocolate in the 65-75% pure range. The hot chocolate here with leche or milk is the only way to drink it and wonderful after meal drink.
As our travel continues through Colombia instead of seeking out tea and oranges, my preferences now are hot chocolate and dragon fruit and passion fruit. And of course avocados.
Pithaya or dragonfruit.
