Bali and Your Belly - Coconuts for the Fruit Stand

The ubiquitous tropical fruit stand. Actually, it could be either friut or veg, but you see them along the highways in almost every tropical country you visit. With a flimsy shelter and well displayed produce, travellers are enticed to stop and pick up groceries or just a snack. I must admit, I wanted that whole stack of passionfruits and mangosteens (see the mottled orange round fruit on the lower shelf and the dark colour round fruit on the top shelf above). At home I find fruit tastes one dimensional. An banana, an orange, and apple, even berries - most of us rely on the grocery stores where they don't retain the complexity of flavour. In the tropics the fruit yields the full benefit of the sun, ripening until their sweet tangy juices develop until bursting.

I was happy to know most of our fellow travelers were eager to stop here and pick up some delicious treats. You have to admit, the display is enticing - they know how to attract buyers. The variety is outstanding. Being a Caribbean girl, I always prefer tropical fruit. Our Van (see left) stopped and we didn't wait long before the road was clear to run over. We were inundated with children wanting to sell us trinkets, which was both sad and frustrating, making our fruit stop bittersweet. One of our companions with a big heart even had a hard time with a child following her into the van! They are persistent, but not aggressive, which pulls at my compassion. I hope they are family with the fruit vendor, so at least they benefit from our purchases.

On a separate leg on one of our journeys we crossed paths with a coconut stand. We had coconut previously at a restaurant (read: tourist trap) which turned out to be lacking in flavour and a bit of a disappointment. This stand, however, made up for it completely. It was young, full of sweet water, and I'm not sure about everybody else, but mine had young tender flesh. Ah, I miss fresh coconut! They chopped it for us and we enjoyed it on our continued drive.

I don't think Enrique got one, I believe we shared. So when it came time to get the flesh, I used my nails to pare away the flesh from the bowled interior to feed him large sections of the almost jelly like flesh. OUCH! It's not easy to do. It takes time, but I wasn't going to let that flesh go; great coconut meat is not easy to come by. Of course we shared it - I fed myself as well - and oh, for such healthy food, it is damn tasty.

I enjoyed these last minute stops. Not only are they delicious, but it was fun. En & I lucked out in traveling with a great group, and everyone had a great sense of humour and weren't afraid to pipe up to Jack (our guide) and say "oooh! Coconuts! Let's stop!"

It just goes to reinforce my belief in straying (even if just a little) from the beaten path. That restaurant was great and an interesting experience, but if you want the best stuff, you gotta go to the local vendors.