Mamóns

This will just be a fun little post about a new delicacy that we found in the Feria around here lately.  In our Feria (fruit market) that we attend every Saturday, there are tons of fruits and veggies that you can buy, many that are familiar to Americans, but some are totally foreign.  It's a fun place, especially if you're willing to try new things.

Our weekly Feria here in San Francisco de Dos Rios

An example of what you can find at the Feria each week.

This week, we got a bag of the newest, weirdest fruit to be in-season here in Costa Rica.  The official name is a rambutan, but here they call them Mamón Chinos (literally means 'Chinese Suckers'.)  These are some weird little fruits mainly because of how they look: they have the color and size of large ripe strawberries, but are covered in these weird looking hair like things with the texture of something offered by Nerf.  On a scale of 1 to Weird, these are a 12!

Remember these toys?  That's kinda what a Mamón Chino feels like.

Some of our selection from the Feria this week.

So, we decided to get half a kilo (about a pound), and show everyone how to eat them!  The girls helped me with this experament.  Zoe and I loved the Mamóns, while Sara and Caitlynn didn't really care for them (and Gabe was too young to try).

The girls with their Mamóns all ready to try.

The first thing you have to do is use your fingernail to crack open the Mamón, so that you can get to the fruit inside.  (Thankfully, you don't have to eat the 'hairy' part, I'm not sure I could do that!)

The Mamóns all broken open with the fruit showing.

Once you have it cracked open, you can take the top off to see the fruit inside, which you can squeeze into your mouth.  It has the texture of a peeled grape, with a very large seed inside.  You suck on the fruit until you eat all the fruit off, then can spit the seed out.  The fruit is somewhat sweet, kind of like a grape, though not as juicy.  Overall, they're a lot of work to eat, but very good!

The seed with all of the fruit off of it... you wouldn't want to swallow that thing!

If you want to see more, you can watch the video below and see my assistant Zoe show you how to eat a Mamón.  If you ever stumble across them in the markets back home, give them a try!