Exotic Fruit Juice of Ecuador
Passion Fruit, Guanabanas, Blackberries and More!
Ecuador is home to many wonderful and exotic fruits: here are some you won't get at home!
Ecuador, which features geography from coastal plains and jungles to snow-capped volcanoes, is a wonderful place to grow fruit. Ecuadorian farmers produce much that is familiar to foreigners, such as strawberries, mangos, pineapples, melons and apples, but if you’re ever there, be sure to challenge yourself with these local favorites you’re unlikely to find in the fruit section back home:
Part One: Ecuadorian fruits usually made into juice:
(Go to Part Two: Ecuadorian fruits usually eaten raw and fresh)
Maracuyá (passion fruit) Maracuyá is a small, egg-shaped yellow fruit. It is hollow, and inside you’ll find several dozen seeds, each of which is covered with a gooey, pulpy outer layer. The fruit is edible right off the vine, but it has a very strong, tart flavor. Generally Ecuadorians separate the pulp from the seeds – a couple of seconds in a blender does the trick nicely – and make juice, adding about one tablespoon of sugar per maracuyá.
Mora (Blackberry) Ecuadorian blackberries are different from the ones you’re used to: they are larger, a little more tart and are grown year-round. The blackberry bushes grow like weeds in most parts of the country, and a small space devoted to them can produce buckets of berries. Although they can be eaten right off the vine, generally Ecuadorians blend them with water and add a little sugar for a tasty juice that is very popular.
Tomate de Arbol (Tree Tomato) A tree tomato is a red, egg-shaped fruit full of pulp-covered seeds, a little like a passion fruit. They are called “tree tomatoes” for two reasons: first of all, because their reddish color is a little like that of a tomato, and the juice made from the seeds tastes vaguely of tomato as well. There is no actual relation between these and real tomatoes. Tree tomatoes are good for juice, or for boiling in sugar for a dessert treat: they are too sour to eat fresh.
Taxo (Banana Passionfruit) A Taxo is an elongated, soft fruit that looks a little like a small, straight, orange banana. Inside of the fruit, dozens of seeds are covered in pulp: theses are separated, and the pulp is used to make juice or ice cream. The skin is discarded. Taxos have a tangy, tart taste, and although they can be eaten fresh, they rarely are. Unless you buy them in the market, chances are the only chance you’ll get to try them is if you go to a place that specializes in helados de paila, or handmade ice cream, where taxo is a popular flavor.
Guanábana (Soursop) The Guanábana is a green fruit with a rough outer skin. They can get quite large, some reaching the approximate size of a volleyball. Inside the rough green skin, the fruit is white and pulpy and full of many seeds, each of which is about the size of a cherry. This white flesh can be eaten fresh, and tastes vaguely of strawberry. It is very sweet and mild. Because it is very messy to eat and the seeds are annoying, Ecuadorians prefer to make juice out of them.
Naranjilla (Little Orange) A naranjilla are round, bright orange fruit a little smaller than a tennis ball. The inside is full of tiny seeds and pulp: it is scooped out and blended, strained and sweetened to make a greenish-orange, tangy juice that has an interesting perfume-y aftertaste. The naranjilla is native to Ecuador and Colombia and rarely grown elsewhere, so be sure to try it when you’re in town.
