Fruit of the day: Pitaya

pitaya--dragon fruit from the market

Pitaya must be very in season right now. We've been seeing them for a month or two, but they are bigger, and cheaper now than they have been so far this year. (I make all my guesses about seasonality based on how many people are selling them and when the price goes down.)

This is often called "dragon fruit" a name which led me to assume they are from Asia. But they are in fact native to Central America. **see crummy research here**  When I was in the US, I bought one once from a grocery store just to see what it was. For one thing, it cost like 16 billion dollars. (OK, probably more like 5 bucks--but for just one!) and for another thing, it was the white variety. This was a real bummer, because the beautiful bright skin is not edible, and once I peeled that away I just had a tasteless pile of white pithy stuff with little black seeds. Kind of a let down.

not my picture--but you can see, boring inside

This is not the case with the native variety--the inside is beautiful, and exciting, and very, very pink.

Now, the taste is still very mild. Which is hard for this berry-stained-fingered-girl to wrap her mind around. It seems like anything this fuchsia should taste acidic and bright and very berry-y.  But it doesn't. I hear people describe it as kiwi-esque (wrong-o. no sourness), melon-y (nope, not fragrant enough) and pear-like (um..I think people just compare things to pears because they don't remember what pears taste like.) The little seeds are kind of like kiwi seeds, or raspberry seeds. Completely edible, and slightly crunchy. The crunch is nice, because you need something to do with your mouth while you are eating pitaya, since there is so little tasting to be done.

Don't get me wrong--they are quite nice. Juicy, slightly sweet, that fun crunchy-ness I just mentioned. And pink! Did you notice the color?!

To get at all that lovely pink-ness, first slice the pitaya in half. You can use a spoon to scoop out the flesh, or if it's very ripe, just peel back the leathery skin. Don't worry, those spike-y parts don't hurt. Even though it grows on a cactus, the outer skin of the fruit is smooth and waxy--and the spines are more like leaves than barbs.

also not my picture--but cool how they grow, huh?

peel that skin off--oh, your hands are going to be soooo stained!

yep, definitely better to scoop it with a spoon. much easier to scrub than your fingernails

That's all there is to it! Now just eat it. You can slice it up pretty, or cut in big chunks and eat it with some yogurt. You can use that spoon and scoop it right out of the skin like a bowl (especially good if you chill it in the fridge first!) Or, one of my favorites, blend it up with a couple of frozen bananas. Yum! 

OK--for those of you who stuck with this whole, ramble-y post--a couple of pro-level tips:

1) Yes. That will stain. Fingers, clothes, dishes, counter-tops. Wash it up right away because that bright purple-y dye is nothing to sneeze at.
2) If you eat a bunch of pitaya don't be surprised that there are...um...some repercussions...from its bright color. Like...the next day, maybe...in the bathroom....
Fine. I'll say it: you're gonna pee and poo purple so be ready for that, 'cuz I wouldn't want your WebMD search to be unnecessarily upsetting.