I've just
found out that my photo of pitayas won an award in a photo contest organised by www.wolnakuchnia.pl. Many thanks to Wolna Kuchnia for a creative way to liven
up the culinary blogosphere and to all of you who helped me to win
with your likes and comments. :)
And now the
main question is: what is this pitaya?
Pitaya, also
known as a dragonfruit, looks indeed like an egg of some mythical
creature. But in fact it's a fruit of a cactus which blooms only at
night, that's why it's sometimes called "moonflower" or
"Queen of the Night". With its bright pink skin and
'freckled' flesh, pitaya caught our attention when we were strolling
around La Boqueria, a famous traditional food market in Barcelona.
Tempted by its bizarre looks, we expected an equally unusual taste
but, sadly, we were disappointed. The fruit was mildly sweet,
'mildly' being the operative word. Fortunately, mixed with other
exotic fruits in a fruit salad, pitaya became quite tasty.
In La
Boqueria we also noticed some massive pig legs with hooves. They
turned out to be jamón, dry-cured Spanish ham, whose neither taste,
nor distinctive smell found our appreciation.
With
some concern, we also looked at the seafood that was so fresh it was
still moving... Some crayfish had even their claws tied to prevent
them from pinching careless customers. As to other 'delicacies,' such
as skinned rabbits, we didn't feel like immortalizing them in photos.
Well, I think I'll better stick with pitaya and other fruit for now...
