A couple of posts back we said we would reveal the benefits of visiting Central America in the rainy season .... May to September. And there are many, mostly in the form of tropical fruit and vegetables. This is the season when the mangoes, coconuts, papayas, pineapples, rambutans, bananas, plantains, avocados and many more fruit and vegetables thrive. And boy, did we enjoy the benefits.
When we first arrived in Panama we collected lots of mangoes and coconuts from the roadside and the beach and made the most amazing breakfast smoothies by just adding frozen bananas.
 |
| This lovely bunch of bananas we purchased from a roadside stall for 5c per banana |
 |
| Banana tree on our yard in Costa Rica. They typically produce 50+ bananas per bunch then that plant dies and another takes its place |
 |
| Talk about keeping us 'regular'! |
James made tostones out of some plantains - double fried and flattened fritters
 |
| Plantains look just like bananas, especially the plants but the fruit are much bigger and fatter |
Astrid and Pete's avocado tree was so abundant that we nearly got sick of eating them .... well, not quite but we did enjoy them with every meal for a time there. We also discovered they kept there flavour frozen - mash and add some lemon juice then freeze. Simple as that!
 |
| Mantequilla (spanish for butter) Avocados |
One day we were walking around to get some avos from Astrid and found a tree overhanging the road so stopped to pick one up. The lady of the house came running out with a plastic bag encouraging us to take as many as we wanted. Don't think she could understand why we didn't take her up on the offer.
The fruit we were especially delighted to discover was the Rambutan (Maman Chino). Our property in Costa Rica was covered in these trees and they were all coming ripe just as we arrived. James had a fortuitous conversation with the local gardener taking care of the next door neighbour's yard and learned how to get the really high ones out of the tree using a very long bamboo pole. Worked a treat! We set about 'filleting' them on a regular basis and using them in smoothies or just eating a bowl for desert. They release tons of really flavoursome juice.
 |
| This Rambutan (Mamon Chino) tree outside our door provided hours of entertainment watching and listening to the birds get busy with them. They seemed much more proficient at harvesting than us |
 |
| Rambutan and coconut water |
 |
| Two Fiery Billed Aracari helping themselves!!! |
 |
| Papaya from our tree in Panama. We learnt that if you pick them unripe (often necessary to get to them before the birds) then you should slit the skin to release the milk/sap. |
 |
| We had Pineapples growing in both Panama and Costa Rica |
 |
| A fruit bowl of Pineapple, rambutans and guava |
Food glorious food ......
Clare got really good at making bread. A necessary skill if you want to eat it in Central America. The local bread is only passable.
 |
| Tuna steaks with pasta salad - avodaco dressing |
 |
| Smoked chicken and salad - avocado dressing |
 |
| Marmite all the way from NZ |
 |
| And NZ chocolate |
 |
| Homemade empanadas |
 |
| Wild coriander growing in the lawn perfect for curries |
No comments:
Post a Comment