Wait!..Don't put that in your mouth..it was just on the ground!

One of the things that I Love about living in a tropical setting is all the delicious and nutritious FREE FOOD that can be found~ usually just lying on the ground.

Here are a few things I found to eat in about an hour when I was walking from my camp to the neighbours house.

COCONUTS!!: The nectar of the God's.

You need a really big machete and an anatomy guide to get into one proper but once you do,
you'll have a bunch of electrolytes at your disposal to ward of last night's tequila binge
and a few days worth of white coconut meat to snack on.

Just remember..
Green coccos are young and have more water in them, so they are popular but the meat is thin and slimy.
If you have gag reflexes, you might want to pass on the meat.

Personally, I like the golden oldies like in my photo.
They are tough and weathered on the outside but inside the coco water has aged like a fine wine and the meat has grown thick and fibrous~what you expect coconut meat to look like

BAEL FRUIT * and a lonely mango*
.

The first time, I found one of these babies, I was like WTF is this!!!!
It was an old moldy one ~left out in the rain with no more peel left on it.
All that was left was a hard wood shell.

Imagine if you crossed a coconut and a large grapefruit and you are halfway there but
there is much more to these Frankinfruit.

Here is a little snippit from Wikipedia about this mysterious fruit..

*The bael fruit is 5 to 12 cm in diameter- slightly pear-shaped with a thick, nail hard rind which does not split upon ripening. The shell is so hard it must be cracked with a hammer or machete.

Inside are numerous sections filled with aromatic orange pulp, each section with numerous flattened-oblong seeds each about 1 cm long, bearing woolly hairs and each enclosed in a sac of adhesive, transparent mucilage that solidifies on drying.

By Asit K. Ghosh Thaumaturgist - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0,
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=10298410

It takes about 11 months to ripen on the tree and can reach the size of a large grapefruit or pomelo, and some are even larger. The fibrous yellow pulp is very aromatic. It has been described as tasting of marmalade and smelling of roses. Boning (2006)*

They do make for great hanging lamps lights if you have the artistic know how.

CASHEW APPLES!! Whoop Whoop!!

These little gems are the bottom of the cashew seed and have a great selection of vitamins and minerals in them.

From Wikipedia

The cashew apple can be eaten fresh, cooked in curries, or fermented into vinegar, as well as an alcoholic drink. It is also used to make preserves, chutneys, and jams in some countries such as India and Brazil. In many countries, particularly in South America, the cashew apple is used to flavor drinks, both alcoholic and nonalcoholic.[1]

Well..Guess what I made???

HOOTCH!!! I fermented the apples in a sterile and airtight container for 9 days.

Yes....It WAS delicious and smooooth, but It didn't last long because everyone in camp had been patiently waiting 9 days for the uncorking and well~we had a little party that day to celebrate and I might have gotten a bit naked at one point.

As for my nuts... I roasted in them in a big fire to extract all the nasty chemicals that live in the shells.
Don't want that as the oil is used for machinery and can give you a rash.

![CASHEWZZ.jpg]
()

TAMARIND, JOCOTES and 2 sickly Guanabana's

Here is some more of the fruity booty that I found and gathered in and around camp that day.

Tamarinds:
These little suckers are like nature's own sour patch kids.
Sweet and Tangy- all in the same bite of it's edible pulp but don't eat them until they are ripe.

By the amazing tech of the internet..
I found this photo of the first time Stan Laurel tried an unripe tamarind.

Wiki says..
**The ripened fruit is considered the more palatable, as it becomes sweeter and less sour (acidic) as it matures. It is used in desserts, as a jam, blended into juices, or sweetened drinks, sorbets, ice creams and other snacks. In Western cuisine, it is found in Worcestershire Sauce and HP Sauce. **

Hmmmm..I wonder if anyone ever tried a Tamarind rub on a steak before??

JOLOTES

Ahhhh..The tater tots of the fruit world...
These fruits are often eaten ripe, with or without the skin as they can cause a rash but I ate them everyday and spit out the skin and seed and was fine.
Taste wise...Imagine the freshest orange juice ever~ mixed with sweet mango and honey nectar.
Jolotes are also eaten with salt and vinegar or lime juice and a red hot pepper sauce and "alhuaishte"
which is made from very finely ground up toasted pumpkin seeds..

OK..This was my first real Steemit post ever..

I hope you made it through it alright and were at least mildly entertained.

Many blessing from the Blockchain!