Friday, June 12, 2009

Pitaya season

It's now pitaya season. The cactus-type fruit enjoys a six-week harvest during May and June. Most that you'll find in this area are grown in the Jalisco highlands near Guadalajara, and sold in local markets and on the streets.

Pitaya is similar to tunas, but a little smaller and you don´t have to deal with tuna´s huge seeds, pitaya´s seeds are like dragonfruit´s seeds (pitahaya). It is very watery, fist-sized, and drips juice as deep and staining as wine - but only slightly sweet.

An important point to note: Pitaya is different from Pitahaya – a columnar cactus with similarlooking fruits native to northern Mexico. Over the last 200 years, writers in the U.S. and Europe have confused the two names to the point of absurdity. In central Mexico, youwill find the two fruits being sold in different bins, with the less desirable Pitahaya at a cheaper price. In the U.S., you will find Pitaya sold under both names!

Pitaya in the market

Pitaya cactus

1 comments:

santana said...

Is the photo of the pitaya plant that of the "pitahaya" fruit? The "pitaya" fruit grows on a different type of cactus.

The construction of the house finished in April 2011 and I'm pretty much settled in. As of March 2014 I'm in preparation for rain mode for this coming summer. That includes sealing and painting things and dealing with drainage issues from last year.

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