I hope you enjoyed the first installment of weird tropical fruits. If you haven’t had a chance to check it out, you can see it here. In that article, I introduced you to granadillas, guanabana (soursop), and uchuva (gooseberries).

This time we’re going to talk about 3 more weird tropical fruits that I had never had the chance to try until coming to Costa Rica. Two of them I had never even heard of. If you’re not from a tropical place, chances are that you haven’t either.

Warning! You may get the urge to travel to Costa Rica so you can give these fruits a try. Don’t worry, that is a perfectly normal side effect.

Let’s dive in and learn about them!

Passionfruit

Before coming to Costa Rica, I had heard of passionfruit. I had even tried it’s juice–if you count it being mixed into those tubes of frozen juice concentrate my mom bought when I was a kid.

But I had no idea what it looked like. Turns out I had no idea what it tasted like either. Apparently, when they make passionfruit juice they must add more sugar than juice. I thought it was a sweet fruit, but it most definitely is not!

Passionfruit is very tart and tangy. It’s a bit much even for someone like me who likes tart and tangy. My husband will not eat passionfruit straight, but he likes it as a drink (with lots of sugar of course). I gave my baby some to try and the face she made was priceless! Looks like she’s gonna take after her daddy when it comes to tart foods. 😀

Passionfruit and granadilla are in the same family. But where passionfruits are tart, granadillas are just the right amount of sweet. I was never able to find an English name for granadillas, but they are sometimes referred to as sweet passionfruit. 

Guaba

Guaba, not to be confused with guava, is not actually a fruit. It’s a giant legume related to snow peas and lentils, which makes a bit more sense when you look at it. It gets thrown in with weird exotic fruits often, however, because it is so sweet.

From what I found, it is called Pacay in English. It grows on a tree that can reach about 60 feet high. Many people use them as shade trees. They work so well that many farmers use them to shade their more delicate coffee plants.

You’ll notice in the photo that it comes in a long husk, like many legumes. Guaba is big though, most of the husks I’ve seen are over a foot long. You crack it open to find the fuzzy white things you see in the photo. Eat the fuzzy white part by sucking it off the smooth black seed that is also in the photo.

It has a texture kind of like a strong version of cotton candy. It melts in your mouth, but much more slowly. Plus, it tastes way better. Instead of a super sweet chemically taste it’s pure sweet, fruity, goodness. It’s a little hard to get past the fact that it looks like you’re eating mold at first, but once you try it, you’ll be hooked!

Cas

Cas is another tart, tangy fruit. I’ve heard that you can eat it by itself, but I haven’t tried it. It is more commonly used with sugar and water to make a refreshing drink, and that’s how I’ve had it.

You can toss the entire fruit, skin and all, into the blender to make the drink. The center part of the fruit is soft and this is where the seeds are.  

Many people remove the center because there is a small worm that can live in this part of the fruit. It sounds gross but supposedly it’s not a problem to eat the worm. That being said, when I make cas to drink, I take out the center part. 😉 

When you eat in Costa Rican sodas (local cafes) and ask for their natural drink options, cas is often on the list. I suggest you try it if you get the chance, it is delicious! Don’t worry, restaurants serve cas worm-free…I think. 😉

More Weird Tropical Fruits

Had you heard of any of these weird tropical fruits before? How many have you tried? If you get the chance to taste them, I heartily recommend them all!

Intrigued by these weird tropical fruits? Remember, there are plenty more where these came from. Keep your eyes peeled as I’ll be adding more soon to the blog!

Until next time…

Cara