Fruits: another Colombian sweetness

Colombian fruits are displayed in large stores or are hung in marketplaces. They are transported in carts and such along the streets of towns and cities, displayed in the bowls of Caribbean ‘palenqueras’, mixed in fruit salads, or piled on top of another in succulent, sweet ‘salpicons’.

Naturally, they are found both green and ripe on trees in fertile landscapes. The fruits of Colombia are another delicious way to learn about the sweetness of the country.

They come in various shapes, sizes, and colours. Green, red, yellow, purple, and even in a colour that has the name of a fruit: orange.

And the variety is found practically in any part of the country, whether the climate is hot, temperate, or cool. Some fruits have the peculiarity of growing in several thermal floors.

It is not necessary to venture out into the fields; the evidence of the country’s fruit production may be seen along its roads. At their edge, especially in hot climates, attractive fruit stalls add colour to the landscape and are evidence of the generosity of an ever-fertile land.

Sweets tastes and reasons

Fruits represent the Colombian characteristics of colour, cheerfulness, and pleasant tastes. They are a source of protein, vitamins, water, and minerals, as well as a source of inspiration for poets and singers who by way of metaphors compare the love and sensuality of women with the sweetness and juiciness of fruits.

Also, thanks to oral tradition and the sweet, acid, semi-acid, or neutral properties of fruits, popular wisdom created sayings that are still applied to recreate everyday situations.

Fruits such as lemons, strawberries, apples, avocados, green mangoes, pineapples, and papayas lend themselves equally to make juices or to play on words.

In matters of verse and prose, as well as in the practical use of the tastes, textures, and features of fruits, imagination has rendered a wealth of results. And, the ingenuity of Colombians surprises by finding new uses for these agricultural products and even in creating new ones by grafting, as in the case of the gulupa and the guava pear.

Fruits as a national symbol of Colombia

Every region in Colombia identifies with the produce of its fields, thus making sampling part of the activities of travellers, just like getting to know the local customs.

Fruits of the Café Triangle

A visit to the fruit stalls in Cerritos, near Pereira (Triángulo del Café), is a quite tempting when it’s about trying the delicious pineapples cultivated there.

Fruits in the Colombian Caribbean

In the beach areas of the Colombian Caribbean, the use of coconut, its water, and the recipes prepared with them is very popular. Preparations include the traditional cocadas (bite-sized nougat of sorts) to which raw sugar molasses and sometimes other fruits are added.

Thanks to the agricultural bounty and the need to create new ways of using them, people in many parts of the country not only peel the fruits to eat them and drink their juice; they transform them into various kinds of delicacies: sweets, aperitifs, desserts, guava paste sweets, and arequipe (milk and sugar fudge).

Naturally, the use of fruits in gastronomy, preparation of cocktails, and pastry confections is a long-standing tradition that is continually enriched by the research and creations of those who find in them ideal flavours for complementing their recipes. The belief that savoury foods should not be mixed with other flavours has been changing for quite some time. Today, many main dishes are sweet and sour thanks to the resources provided by Colombian fruits.

Fruits are health and beauty

Fruits are rich in nutrients; however, new benefits are being discovered for the treatment of several symptoms and illnesses.

Fruit therapy is an increasingly common trend on account of its curative benefits. Guavas, pitayas, granadillas and strawberries are very beneficial for the treatment of various ailments.

Fruit consumption makes people feel well inside; however, there is nowadays a strong trend towards the manufacture of aesthetic products for revitalizing hair, skin, eyes, and nails. In the end, they are good for just about anything.

Delicious food, refreshing juices and cocktails, and a healthy lifestyle are synonymous with many fruits harvested in Colombia. Proving their benefits is easy, because production is permanent and trees are always replete with such rich produce. Fruits are always a delight and a temptation in any corner of the country.

Source: Colombia.travel