An Adventure For The Tastebuds

   About a month back my cousin asked me if Ellia even knew what an apple was and it took me a while to think back through her short life to figure out if she had ever come in contact with one. The answer was yes, but man did I ever have to rack my brain to remember; side note I have a horrible memory. It made me laugh to think that certain things that are just common for kids back home are pretty foreign to our two girls, such as eating apples. Bouncing around the islands on the boat means that their lives have veered from the North American norm and “their normal” is what would be considered for most an Adventure For The Tastebuds. 

   Living in the DR for the past four months has given us many opportunities to try certain foods that would not be readily available back home, or local delights that I am not even sure how to prepare. Fresh produce is in abundance here, and it is cheap. The low cost makes it additionally enticing to buy that fruit or food that you don’t even know the name of and give it a go. 

   We have been here long enough to eat our way through their seasonal changes. We took full advantage of their mango season, probably our most eaten fruit, and are sad that it is now dwindling down, but we still manage to scavenger a few here and there. Some of our foreign tasters were successes and others we will chalk up in the “at least we tried it” category.

Of the NEW foods we tried and enjoyed:

-red bananas (they are sweet and smaller than regular bananas)

– zapote (but only enjoy this in batidas, the fruit alone is less appetizing both visually and to taste)

– starfruit (definitely zippy but it was a nice treat)

– empanadas (yes we had had these back home, but these are fresh made on the side of the street and our girls inhale them)

-limoncillos (everyone in the family, except me, enjoys these. They are small fruit that you remove the skin and suck off the softer pink flesh. I find they require too much work and mess for 

The ones that weren’t fan favorites:

– mangu (a mashed plantain meal, I didn’t mind it, but everyone else got one bite down and opted for something else)

– unripe pomelo (that was our fault, we were too eager to eat it, normally we love the stuff but let it ripen or it is way too bitter)

–  manzanas de oro (golden apples, we tried them when we first bought them, and then about a week later thinking maybe they needed to ripen more, nope they just aren’t that good)

We aren’t picky eaters and love to try new things. We are looking forward to seeing what further islands have to offer our tummies.