Through the eyes of a 7 year-old: Puerto Rico

This post is written by seven-year old Charlotte, daughter of close friends of ours who wanted to contribute to the blog by writing about her recent trip to Puerto Rico.

Hi, my name is Charlotte.  I know Miss Mardi because she and Mr. Neil are friends of my parents and that’s how I became friends with them.  I live in Michigan, but since it’s spring break, I am in Puerto Rico right now with my family.  Today a taxi took us to a rental car place where we picked up a car and drove to a market in Rio Piedras, near San Juan.

When we were at the market, we saw lots of vegetables, some fruits, and even some dried fish and meat.  We also saw some candy, of course.  We stopped at one little market stall, and the person who was selling the fruits only spoke Spanish, so I spoke Spanish with her.  I go to a Spanish immersion school, and I have had three years of learning only in Spanish, so I can speak Spanish.  We got some types of fruit and that night we tried them all.

We bought a fruit called a custard apple; it was green and kind of big and had spikes.

We also bought something that looked like a plum; it was purple.  We got two of those and two more that were green.  They were the exact same thing but different colors.  I do not know what they were called in Spanish.  I don’t remember, but I think the name was very hard to say.  Maybe some of you will know what they are.  If you do, please tell me the name in Spanish, and maybe in English if you know it.

We also bought a fruit whose name I don’t remember, and it was brown and fairly small and it was shaped kind of like a heart.  I think its name was something like corazon (the word for heart in Spanish).  That’s probably why it looks like a heart – ha ha!

At another stall, we bought a fused banana.  There were two bananas in the same peel, and the peel was still holding both.  It was kind of like two bananas but their peels were stuck together, but on the inside the bananas were together.  It was very neat.  We called it the “mutant banana.”

That night we tried all of the fruit we got – the custard apple, the plum-like things, the corazon thing, and the fused banana.  First we tried the custard apple.  The texture was like the inside of a coconut, kind of hard, but it had no flavor.  My dad thought it was unripe, but we weren’t sure because we hadn’t asked the person; we just bought it.

Next, we tried the green plum-like thing, not the purple one.  It tasted great!  It tasted like the purple one – I’d already tasted the purple one because at the shop, the lady cut one of the purple ones up and she let us try it.  It kind of tasted like a plum.

Next, we tried the corazon thing.  Its texture was kind of like a banana, but its taste, well, I can’t describe it.  My mom thought it was like a creamy sewer pipe.

Last, we tried the fused banana, and believe me, if you ever see a fused banana, buy it, because they’re much sweeter than the normal bananas!  You might not be able to taste it, but I thought it was much sweeter.  To actually see if it’s much sweeter, you could take a regular banana and that banana and compare both of them.  I think that you will find that the fused banana will be much sweeter.

Charlotte’s tip: If you are ever traveling in a tropical place that has lots of weird fruits or weird vegetables, you should go to the markets and buy some.  It doesn’t matter how they look, if they have spikes or if they’re brown or if they’re bulgy, whatever they look like – they may not be that way on the inside.  If you haven’t heard this saying before, I think you should learn it – never judge a book by the cover.  The same thing is true with a fruit – never judge a fruit by the skin!

I want to thank the lady who sold the fruit to us.  She was very helpful and she told us all about the fruits and when to eat them and how to eat them.  I would also like to thank Miss Mardi for letting me put a blog post on here.  I am very honored!   If I see any more weird fruits or vegetables, I’ll report back!

What do you think people?  I think Charlotte has a career as a food blogger ahead of her….

46 thoughts on “Through the eyes of a 7 year-old: Puerto Rico”

  1. She most definitely has a food career of some sort ahead of her! This was very cute (and she is, too!). I really enjoyed seeing some of the interesting fruits available in Puerto Rico. I am surprised we don’t see some of them here in the Southern US.

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  2. She’s a promising food blogger. It is well written. I love those star apple (below the custard apple). We have a tree but still waiting for it to bear fruit.

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  3. Fruit would be one of the first things that would appeal to a child’s curiosity. Mine, too. I also employ her tip every time I go to our local store, and teach my students the same. One is always a reasonable price and a great taste experience. If you haven’t tried something – go for it!

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  4. Hey Charlotte…the corazons are called “cherimoya”. Very tasty – though they don’t LOOK it, do they? (Tell your mum I’m a bit concerned that she’s actually tried sewer pipe…that was quite the metaphor.) And yes, the custard apple looks most unripe. I wonder why they were selling them so early? Did you keep one on the window while you were there to see if it ripened (like a banana) after picking? Or maybe they cook it?

    Great post; glad you enjoyed the vacation. Markets are SO much fun, aren’t they?

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  5. Note from Charlotte: I would like to thank you for reading my blog post and writing nice comments! The next time that I go somewhere, which probably won’t be for a long time, if I see any like weird foods, I will do a blog post like this. I would also like to thank Miss Mardi again for letting me do a blog post – I am very honored! I will report back soon!
    Charlotte

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  6. Charlotte! That was a fantastic post =D. I loved reading about the fruits of Puerto Rico from your perspective. I always love to try new fruits and vegetables, so if I ever see one of these, I will pick one up!

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  7. Excellent writing, Charlotte! I love when I go to tropical places (like Bali, which is not far from where I live in Western Australia) and can try all the interesting fruits that I can’t find back home. The only problem is when you fall in love with one of them and then wish you could eat it all the time. Just another reason to look forward to overseas holidays I guess!

    Keep up the writing, you have a real talent for it! Keep up the adventurous eating too, it is a sign of an adventurous person and everyone likes to meet such people 🙂

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    • Conor, you can always come to Queensland for a holiday!! I live in Australia’s largest strawberry growing district, and there’s pineapples, banana’s, avocados and custard apples on tap. You’ve always got somewhere to stay if you’re over this way.

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      • Oh brilliant, thanks Tami, I wish I could come indulge tomorrow! You know, I’m a little ashamed to admit it but I’ve never been to Queensland. Everyone I know who has been has loved it, I really should get over there sooner rather than later. I would probably give myself instant diabetes with all the fruit gorging but I think it would be worth it 😀

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        • That’s okay, SE Asia is closer to Perth than the other side of the country. The midnight flight is an experience!!

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  8. Great post, Charlotte! We’ll have to think of some unusual Canadian foods for you to write about when you visit Canada in June.

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  9. Charlotte, thank you for this tour of the market and the fruit. You write very well! You can write again even if you don’t go anywhere with strange fruits–you can write about what’s going on at your house!

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  10. Charlotte, I think you are brilliant! Your interest in trying new and unique foods is very refreshing! I personally believe in trying anything once. I love your tip about trying fruits or veggies even “if they have spikes or if they’re brown or if they’re bulgy.” It is always good to remember not to judge a book by it’s cover. I can not wait to compare a regular banana to a fused banana, I can only imagine how much more sweet the fused one could be!

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  11. So cute, I definitely think she has a future! What an adventurous eater for 7 years old. I would have been scared of half of that stuff!

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  12. OOh! I think I know abt the custard apple! Except where I come from we call it ‘sorsaka’ and instead of eating it we blend it with milk and sweeten it a bit and have a smoothie! DELICIOUS! If it’s texture was coconutty and barely tasty it defintily wasnt ripe yet……Super awesome post Charlotte!

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  13. Charlotte, well done with the post. I was pleased to find out who was behind the Cat posts. Always thought it was Mr Neil’s sense of humour and had Cleo Cat writing posts.

    And yes, the custard apple was waaaaaay under-ripe. It should have had a spongy feel and the inside look like a creamy coloured custard.

    I love custard apples, so am hoping the tree I have just planted in my garden won’t take too long to bear fruit.

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  14. Hi again Charlotte, had a look in my world food guide book (called Edible)and the little purple and green fruit are commonly called star fruit, as when cut straight in half they look like a star. Some varieties are green, others purple when ripe, and other varieties are green because they are unripe.

    The proper name for them are caimito, in Spanish as well.

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  15. Thank you all for the wonderful comments that you gave me! I’ve loved reading them and I had a great time writing the blog! I love to write. I like to write stories and songs. I also like to travel and I really like fruit, and when I saw the fruit, I thought it would be a really good experience to taste them. I’m sorry that I can’t write to you each individually. It’s because I’m working on a presentation for school about Puerto Rico, and I just don’t have enough time to write to each person individually. Please accept my thanks!! I liked hearing where you were from. Thanks again for reading my blog and leaving such nice comments!
    Charlotte

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  16. Thank you all so much for the lovely comments on my daughter’s blog post! She was been feeling quite famous after having been on Miss Mardi’s blog and getting so much bloggy love from you dear readers, and as her mom, I am so grateful to each of you for being so kind and so generous with your praise. She loves to write – and spends hours at home writing songs and stories – and your encouragement of her writing warmed my heart. Knowing who Mardi is, of course I am not surprised that she would have such a kind and thoughtful following here on her blog. Thank you all for your kindness!

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  17. absolutely darling! great advice, Charlotte- it’s always great to be adventurous- no matter what the fruit may look like- go for it- there is so much to learn (and eat!) in this world! lovely advice and a beautiful write-up- you go girl! x shayma

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  18. On your fruit that looks like plums, second picture that’s a Icacos fruit . Many years. My brothers, sister and I use too pick that fruit when we where children in Fajardo & Ceiba P.R.

    Thank for sharing your pictures.

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