Two pitayas
I only had pitayas, aka dragon fruit, twice before in my life as I saw them advertised in the online supermarket in Budapest at the time. Sadly, one of them cost 10 (and later 11) euros each and they turned out not that big either. Yet, I was a fan from the first moment I ate one. Sad that these are gone in a heartbeat after opening them, and later because I could not find them anywhere cheaper, I waited patiently until last week (years later) before I ate another pitaya.
Online fruit store
In our first year of arrival in Spain, I found a local farmer who sells boxes of fruit once they are ready to be harvested. One of the things they offer is pitaya and even though the boxes cost 28 euros each, I knew I had to get one. I figured if grown locally, surely I will get more value for money and also support a local farmer directly rather than buying them in the big supermarkets. Although apparently available in some supermarkets, I never saw one and trust me when I say that I paid attention.
Every time that I tuned into the online store, pitayas were out of season or sold out already. Just my luck! I felt disappointed every time but what could I do? Better luck next time, I hope.
Finally, I got lucky
A week ago, I had this hunch to check the site again and to my surprise, I was lucky this time. Pitayas were still available and I immediately ordered a box of them. As we were driving to the costa tropical that weekend, I offered to pick the box up but I don't think they read the email (that happens a lot here, so you get used to it) so in the end, it was delivered here after the weekend.
What a joy to open this box!
I was so happy to receive this box, you can't even imagine how much I had been looking forward to this moment of finally eating this grown locally and also curious about the purple coloured dragon fruit. We only had the white flesh version back in Budapest.
The box did not disappoint, 11 good sized pitayas aka dragon fruit were found in the box. I had no clue on how to spot them for freshness until I looked this up. The ones that lose the bright colour need to be consumed asap. I also read you can store them in the fridge for up to two weeks but I already decided not to risk this too much because that would be an absolute waste of this purchase.
Tasting the first pitaya
Although I wasn't sure anymore, I remembered the store having pictures of white fleshed pitayas so I was surprised when I opened the first one and finding a purple one instead. I think, looking at the dark edges, this one needed to be consumed quickly so it's good I opened this one first because I didn't find any of these spots in the others afterwards.
I cut the pitaya in cubes and this is what's left more or less (minus a few bites while cutting it, lol).. I was surprised that I didn't love it as much as I think I'd would. Maybe this was the difference between this colour and the white ones? Still, they would all be consumed because of the many health benefits pitayas have. The seeds are also good for your heart, which is great.
The verdict
None of us was wowed to the point that I expected us to be, and I really hated the fact that my fingers turned purple and it didn't come off easy either. I found some ideas for the pitayas to make it more appealing for us all to consume them. On the list of trials I have smoothies (usually a winner for our daughter) and ice cream. Let's see which ones I will end up making in the end as I plan on freezing parts of the fruit every day before they turn bad as well. I will share my experiences in another post soon.
What about you? Do you eat pitayas? Are they expensive where you live? I reckon in Asia for example, they are very cheap (and much bigger, I assume) compared to here. But in the end, 28 euros for 11 pitayas comes down to a little over 2,50 euros which is not bad at all. It's just that I have to experience first how frozen pitayas turn out in smoothies etc. Honestly, I have high hopes, so fingers crossed!
One thing's for sure and that's the fact that these pitayas are my favourite fruit in terms of looks and the easiest to peel off the skin as well.
All pictures above are mine..