Tree Crops

Lucky for me, lots of yummy crops are well established on the farm; they come not from rows in the garden, but high up in tree branches. Now that I've observed a good year or so of farm progression, I am beginning to recognize which tree crops show up when.

Year round, banana and platano trees fruit and flower in a showy display of tropical abundance. As a Virginia native, i am continually impressed by this dramatically beautiful and nutritious plant.
I didn't know before that despite our warm climate, many fruit trees here are seasonal. It is the middle of the dry season and several of my favorites (mangoes, avocadoes, guavas) are just arriving. The mangoes on the farm are a smaller variety than i used to purchase in the States, but pack plenty of juicy flavor. Mangoes in general are phenomenal trees, living upward of 300 years and producing copious amounts of fruit. Right now the mangoes are green and tart, exactly how Nicas prefer them.
And apparently they are not alone. Unripe mangoes are popular in most Central American countries, as well as in Indian and Pakistani cuisine.

During mango months, the very popular salted slices are sold everywhere on streetcorners and in markets. Some also prefer to add spicy chile flavor. I found the tedious job of peeling the hard fruits worth it for a salty sour snack.

Moving right along, avocado season is also upon us!!! The grand old tree outside my kitchen window is heavy with growing fruit. The problem is how to reach the high branches. Often by the time an avocado ripens enough to fall, it is rotty or invaded by hungry insects. Even if it lands relatively edible, it turns out i am also competing with an avocado-loving dog!

If I beat Stella to it, or am able to knock down a ripe-looking specimen with a long stick, I am awarded with a nutrient dense, delicious prize. they might not be so beautiful on the outside, but as you can see, perfect inside!

Tree cheers for Tree Crops!

Matchmaking

My guest of honor for this post is an incredibly versatile FRUIT, and is in fact growing en la finca on at least 1 enormous tree (maybe more, i'll have to search).....
a fruit frequently featured in a savory DIP,
a fruit revered by raw foodists as well as cooked foodists.........
my personal FAVORITE FOOD, hands down, on the planet:

¡EL AGUACATE!

The avocados on our tree actually have not ripened yet, see below,


but with the range of mini climates in the area, perfectly soft yet firm fruit of the gods will be available for months starting now. Hailing from the very not-tropical state of Virginia, i maintain a fascination with and something like desperation for good, ripe avocados. In el mercado, i cannot say no to an avocado offer--i physically cannot restrain myself. they are so ripe and so cheap and so available! Of course the problem arises when i arrive home with bagfuls of the heavy green fruit, and only these two little gringo mouths to feed.

For sure, guacamole goes a looooooooong way

i serve it up on Nicaragua's comida tipica, gallo pinto, as well as the usual with chips, in a 7 layer dip, on a sandwich, with eggs, etc etc. By the way Nicas don't do guacamole--despite the sensational flavor combo of avocado with onion, garlic, lemon, salt, pepper, and tomato--they slice it and leave it blandly on the side of the plate, an afterthought not worthy of its own serving bowl. sacrilege i say!

However, i have been to that place of too much guac, where instead of inviting pleasure and delight, the sight of another bowl of smooshed avocado simply repels. With this knowledge, i am sashaying my way into avocado season, determined to keep my taste buds interested.

Taking a cue from raw foodists, i decided to incorporate aguacate into dessert for a change. Gross, right? i don't much prefer any fruit in my dessert if i can help it. as tasty as cherry pie and peach cobbler might be, dessert is CHOCOLATE and CARAMEL and CANDY. that's just me. little did i know what drama was to unfold....

the meeting of 2 tropical fruits

At first, they didn't seem to relate. The prissy packaged cocoa powder, her fluorescent price tag like bling, almost mocking the bohemian aguacates, naked and wild and free of plastic.

but when the package was opened and the powder emptied out, maybe she remembered those days growing as a cacao fruit, dangling from a tree in the hot tropical sun; before being harvested, fermented, dried, then pulverized, the cacao was living that same bohemian lifestyle!

Into the blender they went, 2 tropical fruits, footloose and fancy free!

+ 2 more, caña + vainilla...

=
a match made in heaven!

insanely delicious creamy chocolate mousse