Two pitayas
I only had pitayas, aka dragon fruit, twice before in my life as I saw them advertised in the online supermarket in Budapest at the time. Sadly, one of them cost 10 (and later 11) euros each and they turned out not that big either. Yet, I was a fan from the first moment I ate one. Sad that these are gone in a heartbeat after opening them, and later because I could not find them anywhere cheaper, I waited patiently until last week (years later) before I ate another pitaya.
Online fruit store
In our first year of arrival in Spain, I found a local farmer who sells boxes of fruit once they are ready to be harvested. One of the things they offer is pitaya and even though the boxes cost 28 euros each, I knew I had to get one. I figured if grown locally, surely I will get more value for money and also support a local farmer directly rather than buying them in the big supermarkets. Although apparently available in some supermarkets, I never saw one and trust me when I say that I paid attention.
Every time that I tuned into the online store, pitayas were out of season or sold out already. Just my luck! I felt disappointed every time but what could I do? Better luck next time, I hope.
Finally, I got lucky
A week ago, I had this hunch to check the site again and to my surprise, I was lucky this time. Pitayas were still available and I immediately ordered a box of them. As we were driving to the costa tropical that weekend, I offered to pick the box up but I don't think they read the email (that happens a lot here, so you get used to it) so in the end, it was delivered here after the weekend.
What a joy to open this box!
I was so happy to receive this box, you can't even imagine how much I had been looking forward to this moment of finally eating this grown locally and also curious about the purple coloured dragon fruit. We only had the white flesh version back in Budapest.
The box did not disappoint, 11 good sized pitayas aka dragon fruit were found in the box. I had no clue on how to spot them for freshness until I looked this up. The ones that lose the bright colour need to be consumed asap. I also read you can store them in the fridge for up to two weeks but I already decided not to risk this too much because that would be an absolute waste of this purchase.
Tasting the first pitaya
Although I wasn't sure anymore, I remembered the store having pictures of white fleshed pitayas so I was surprised when I opened the first one and finding a purple one instead. I think, looking at the dark edges, this one needed to be consumed quickly so it's good I opened this one first because I didn't find any of these spots in the others afterwards.
I cut the pitaya in cubes and this is what's left more or less (minus a few bites while cutting it, lol).. I was surprised that I didn't love it as much as I think I'd would. Maybe this was the difference between this colour and the white ones? Still, they would all be consumed because of the many health benefits pitayas have. The seeds are also good for your heart, which is great.
The verdict
None of us was wowed to the point that I expected us to be, and I really hated the fact that my fingers turned purple and it didn't come off easy either. I found some ideas for the pitayas to make it more appealing for us all to consume them. On the list of trials I have smoothies (usually a winner for our daughter) and ice cream. Let's see which ones I will end up making in the end as I plan on freezing parts of the fruit every day before they turn bad as well. I will share my experiences in another post soon.
What about you? Do you eat pitayas? Are they expensive where you live? I reckon in Asia for example, they are very cheap (and much bigger, I assume) compared to here. But in the end, 28 euros for 11 pitayas comes down to a little over 2,50 euros which is not bad at all. It's just that I have to experience first how frozen pitayas turn out in smoothies etc. Honestly, I have high hopes, so fingers crossed!
One thing's for sure and that's the fact that these pitayas are my favourite fruit in terms of looks and the easiest to peel off the skin as well.
All pictures above are mine..
Dragon fruit is good, but I wouldn't want a whole box of it! I usually don't buy it because it's expensive and not as good as some other fruits I like. The fingers turning purple would be really annoying though!
!PIMP
Well when it's not available in any store here, I checked for two years now, lol, it's easier to pull the trigger on a whole box. Plus it's locally grown so supporting a farmer directly, which is something I'd ideally want for every fruit/veggies we eat in the future before we grow our own.
I already know it won't be available again until next year, but luckily for me, I bought the final box yesterday so I can have one more round of delicious smoothies mostly.
If I may be curious, what are they priced at on average over there? I'm always curious because in Budapest they were imported and just one store where I could buy them, 10/11 euros each, insanity but we could afford it as a treat because of the falling price of the Hungarian forint while earning in Euros, so each month, we had quite a bit more in Forints to spend, lol.
Here they come down to 2,50 euros each, which is not that bad, considering we share one with the three of us for 1 smoothie. If you'd eat them out of hand, I think 1 person 2,50 euro each is too much. That I'd never do.
Spoiler alert: this was the only purple one, lol. I really don't understand how it got there because every other pitaya was white fleshed (thankfully). I'm hoping the final box will be the same!
!PIMP
These are a delicious exotic fruit and a treat in my home, I get these every few months depending on availability and price, my eldest son loves them.
!LADY
If I may be curious, what do they cost over there? More or less I mean.. As I mentioned, in Budapest I learned about them and only one store where I bought items sold them, they were 10 and 11 euros each so you may understand that's the reason I didn't buy them anymore.
They were import, clearly but still.. That was too much for me to justify and the only reason I could afford it at the time was because the Hungarian forint fell really hard while earning a Euro salary, lol. So they were bought from the extra Forints we had upon exchanging the money we earned.
I was in doubt if I'd order another box as half of them were frozen anyway for future smoothies, I pulled the trigger and then they were sold out so this will be it until next year. Now I'm happy another box of treats is on the way this week, lol.
Where my boyfriend loves a beer sometimes, I drink water so these luxury smoothies with dragon fruit are my healthy treat.. But I would not buy them monthly, that's a bridge too far in terms of budget.
!LADY
I have various grocers that carry this fruit imported all year around so the competition keeps prices reasonable at the retail level. An Asian grocery store that I go to regularly is T & T that have these fruit currently at $2.99 CAD/pound/454g, $1CAD = $0.715USD. It must be the peak season as they are usually $3.49 to $3.99 most rest of the year.
!LADY
Ah that's great that it's available year round!
I'm trying to remember (read: writing it down) which fruit and veggies there are in every season so I can start learning how to cook more with seasonal fresh items ..
This was the first one that I added because it's the first one bothering me when I'm too late in season, lol. I figured this is a good moment to start creating a list so that I learn more about when everything is available..
!LUV
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Waos nunca había escuchado de esas frutas se ven muy linda
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