Frutas y Otro Comida de Paraguay

Banana Flower

Ani harvesting mangoes from the tree in his backyard.

Mangoes are so abundant in Paraguay the are not sold in the supermarket / grocery. Almost every home has at least one mango tree. They are popular not only for the fruit they produce, but the cool dense shade they provide as the tree matures. An adult mango tree can produce hundreds of mangoes.

The sap that bleeds out of the stem of a freshly picked mango has the most delicious smell. It is very sticky and mildly toxic.

The blossom of a papaya and a baby papaya.

 Ani harvesting papayas from the tree in his backyard. Shaking the trunk is the most effective way to harvest a papaya.

 You can buy eight pineapples for the roughly US$5 in Ciudad del Este.

 Fresh papaya for breakfast and two types of mango juice.

The yerba mate aisle in the supermarket. Yerba is consumed on daily basis by everyone in Paraguay, especially in the summer. I will have a later post devoted to Yerba:)

 I rarely drink soft drinks in the States, however I couldn't resist the urge to taste something familiar after day eight while in the airport. Paraguyan Coca-Cola is made with cane sugar and is super tasty.

 Yeyi told me a tale she heard about someone giving beet juice to an alcoholic to trick them out of their alcoholism. If they ask for a drink you give them beet juice and tell them it is wine, they are too drunk to know the difference:)

 Jesus making pan like a pro.

Jesus and Yeyi                           The pan before it is baked.

All Paraguayan homes have a parilla (an outdoor wood burning grill encased in brick on three sides) The parilla  has a rack that is attached to a frame with a built in cranking mechanism. If your fire is too strong you can raise the meat filled rack away from the flame.

 Once the fire slows down, you lower the rack to bring the meat closer to the flame.

Leg of lamb, pork ribs and an assortment of paraguayan sausages.