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Costa Ricans really seem like amazing neighbors. Upon our arrival here in Barva, Mike and I ventured over to the Delgado’s to check in. We found Roy, the youngest, in his workshop, busy cutting wood for the many interesting handmade products this family makes and sells. They make everything from cutting boards, to authentic Costa Rican coffee makers to wooden spoons, trivets and hangers. It’s really amazing to see what they are able to make by hand.
Roy immediately stopped working in order to prepare us some lunch. The family lost their matriarch, Flora, 3 months ago and since then, the household is definitely different. Roy is not one to be in the kitchen. Actually, I don’t think I had ever seen him in the kitchen before. However today, he felt it was his job to ensure Mike and I had a good meal. He immediately went to work, heating up sauce, turning up the rice cooker, asking if we wanted him to make us salad, etc.
Roy continued to put together a great lunch for us and decided to get some food himself and join us for a bite. We spent about an hour talking after lunch and
Roy made no gestures to suggest that we were keeping him from his job. As I’ve mentioned before, it seems that Ticos value social interactions over making money.
While cleaning up, Roy asked me if I wanted some “nísperos” (knee-sper-ohs). I had no idea what these were. He got a great kick out of showing me how to eat them. I’ve now decided that nísperos are one of my new favorite fruits. These tiny, yellow, soft, mini-apples are truly amazing. I was shocked as to why we don’t import these gems into the States but was told that they do not keep very long so there is no real way to import them. They have a pit much like a cherry but have the consistency of a peach. They taste like a peach and apple combined. On top of that, they cost about $1 per kilo (a little over 2 pounds). Like I said, my new favorite fruit.
Seeing how excited I was, Roy decided he would become El Profesor de Fruitas y Vegetables de Costa Rica. He immediately started pulling everything out of the refrigerator and asking me if I knew what it was. I think the
Roy
The Professor of Costa Rican Fruits and Vegetables only things I recognized were cucumbers and watermelon (however upon Roy’s insisting that I try COSTA RICAN watermelon, I do agree with him that CR watermelon is sweeter than elsewhere). I am still a bit shocked as to how many new fruits and vegetables I’ve learned about here. Roy showed us “camote” (ka-mo-teh),“ayote” (eye-o-teh) and “chayote” (chai-o-teh) - all of which are root vegetables that you boil. He showed us three different types of fruit that all looked exactly like a lime however were vastly different. One was a regular lime, one was an orange and one was a sweet lime. It was like looking at twins. I have no idea yet how to tell the difference unless I cut them open. I tried a fruit called “cas” which was a little sour when eaten however when squeezed into water with a little sugar, made a very refreshing drink. He also showed up something called “yampi” which did not look like something I’d want to eat ~ Another root vegetable. However, since The Professors lesson, I have had yampi, camote, ayote and chayote - all of which taste like different types of potato and all of which were very good.
Roy was an amazingly gracious host. At no time did he rush back to his work or make us feel uncomfortable with all we didn’t know. Instead, he took a real interest in teaching us more about the ways of Ticos. I was very impressed.
Mike says that The Professor’s lesson was like being in the classroom with a student that really wanted to learn and today was like the “Lab” because today Matthew took us down to the Feria (open air market) to buy fruit. What a sight!
There were so many fruits and vegetables that I’ve never even seen before. Vendors everywhere, tons of people and a great atmosphere for learning. At one point, we had asked a vendor about a particular fruit that he had on his stand. He called it “guava” however we think this is a Tico term as it’s not like the guava we’ve seen before. A Tico buying fruit next to us automatically showed us how to open the fruit (which we had not even paid for) and began to show us how to eat it. I think this fruit beat out nispéros! The tiny pods reminded me of cotton
candy on the outside but once wet, the outside began to dissolve into a chewy piece of fruit with a smooth pit. Very sweet and for $.20 a piece for about 15 pods, you couldn’t beat it. Matthew immediately thanked the man and pulled out his money to pay the vendor to which the Tico who showed us the fruit, told Matthew to put his money away and he would buy it for us. After he continued to insist that he purchase the guava for us, we thanked him quite a few times and were on our way. I was once again astounded at the generosity of these people. Away I went with my new favorite fruit in hand, wishing later on that we had bought many more of them.
Pumpkin bread is also very big here which I was surprised to see. Folks sell pumpkins by the quarter in the Feria. I saw many Tico’s sawing pumpkins in half which I thought was much easier than trying to cut them open with a knife like I’ve tried to do multiple times. Eggs were $1.50 for 15. Pineapples - I don’t even know if those of you who buy
Vegetables of Costa Rica
Green ones are Chayotes, Red one is Camote
pineapples in the States even want to hear this but they were $.50 each and much sweeter and bigger than what we have back home. Everything we bought was at least half the cost or less than what you’d pay back in the States.
Amazing country, amazing people and yes, amazing fruits and vegetables. No complaints so far.
Side Note: Our boxes arrived yesterday. We picked them up today from the airport and made it through customs with no problems. My pictures and music are all intact!
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