Tuesday, 9 June 2009

Fruits and Vegetables of Uruguay

I guess it is to be expected that when you move to a new country they will have a different selection of fresh produce available. It may not be expected however that you are faced with fruits or vegetables you have neither seen, or even heard of before!

Farmer's Markets are a big part of daily life here in Montevideo and they sell a collection of little fruits and vegetables that are totally new to me. Here are 2 fine examples:

Has anyone ever heard of "Persimmons" before? I certainly hadn't. They look like apple-sized pumkins, they have the skin texture of a tomato but the flesh texture of a nectarine. They have a nice but very unusual taste (quite bland, almost sweet) and seem to only be available here in the Autumn season.


Another weird one is "Zapallitos". They look kind of like dark green pin cushions and they taste a bit like zucchini/courgette. These are mostly used for making pies and quiches as they can be pretty flavourless otherwise.



And then there's the larger cousin of these guys - the regular "Zapallo". This one might look a bit more familiar to Americans as they are used to different types of squash but this one was new for me! It looks like a green knobbly under ripe pumkin and it tastes just sweet potato - yum. They sell it in chunks (or whole if you plan on feeding a nation!) at all the farmers markets.


To read how someone made a massive batch of soup for just $1 thanks to feria vegetables click here!
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3 comments:

  1. Alejandro del Pino25 July 2009 at 15:40

    Hi Elaine:
    Parsimons are quite new for us too. I had never seen them until last summer. They taste good.
    Zapallitos are a very common and popular vegetable here and in Argentina. I don´t particularly like them but there are many different ways of preparing them. "Zapallitos rellenos", filled with meat or corn is a very popular dish. I can get you a couple of recepies if you want to try them.

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  2. Anonymous27 July 2010 at 05:24

    Hello! I am from the states and am vacationing in Uruguay... Zapallitos are GREAT in stir-fry dishes (asian or mexican style) or roasted veggie dishes... they soak up all the other flavors but hold up their texture and solidity really well. Give it a try, thanks for your blog!
    -Seth

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  3. vruz22 September 2012 at 19:53

    You can use zapallitos as a substitute in any italian zucchini-based recipe.

    Uruguayans tend to bake them in the oven, filled with minced meat (usually including spices, garlic, onion, many times shredded boiled egg and peppers), topped with bechamel and some parmesan (or conaprole sbrinz) cheese sprinkled on top.

    I personally like to add some mozzarella or gruyere-like cheese as well, but that's just me.

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