Fruit of the day: Jicaro

I find it amazing that after over two years here, I am still constantly learning about new fruits. This is one I had seen many times without really realizing it. It wasn't until I dug in and started asking questions, that I realized how many times I have encountered it without knowing. 

This is Jicaro. The ones around here are small, about twice the size of a softball--but the ones that come from up on the Rio Coco are as big as a basketball.

Jonathan brought back a whole sack of giant jicaro from the River. 

The big ones are even bigger than a coconut!

Left to right: coconut, giant jicaro, regular jicaro

While on the tree they are green or yellow. As they dry they get progressively darker brown. Every time a group of visitors comes they ask me about the bright yellow fruits growing oddly from the black bark of a very distinctive tree. Even once I knew enough to answer "jicaro"  I still didn't really understand what they were.

not my pictures--but weird looking, huh?

A very tough, smooth wooden shell encloses a mass of seeds and stickiness not unlike what you'd find inside a pumpkin. When green they are really hard to crack open, and the stuff inside smells like a haunted middle-school locker-room. (by which I mean it is not a pleasant smell) Once they are mature and dry the shell cracks smartly--and the insides smell like a brewery. 

While visiting on the Rio Coco, I asked a woman if those big fruit were edible. She said they were used for making bowls--so I assumed them to be completely inedible gourd-type things. And that is kind of correct. They are not only used as practical containers, but are a popular canvas for artists who carve them into special drinking cups, and other decorative objects. 

also not my pictures. I have no explanation for why I thought they were made from coconuts.

The fact that they are so often made into cups should have been a hint. Because jicaro is in fact used widely in a local drink. I have heard it referred to here as horchata,  pinol, and semillias de jicaro (jicaro seeds). While horchata and pinol also have other variations in other Latin American countries, I haven't heard of anyplace else that uses jicaro. 

The drink is made by grinding the dried seeds along with dried maize and spices like cinnamon and clove. Then milk or water is added and the seeds are left to steep. Sugar is added, and you drink the liquid along with the "grit" from the grains. It is quite filling. 

You can also run down to the corner store and buy some already made up. 

Jicaro!