Fruit in Season...
Yesterday we passed a guy selling pineapples... the kind from Zambezia, not from Manica. I know because I have lived here a long time. I have weekly reminders of the accumulation of years of knowledge of this place. It kind of feels good to recognize how much I've grown even if the areas of growth are somewhat trivial... at least, on the surface!
January marks the abundance of mangoes... greens abound, but lettuce is too wet and so are tomatoes (seems to be many with black spots right now.) Last week I bought avocados that seemed pretty local (bigger, kind of beat up and flavorful, instead of perfect and shiny and tasteless!) Avocados are usually most available in February.
We just finished the November/December glut of lichies, small plums and peaches from orchards in the north of the province were also easy to find... if you know where to look for them! I do... I've been here since before the dawn of the supermarket chains.
The local stuff is generally better and cheaper, so I try to stick with sourcing stuff from the market ladies before I head out to buy zucchini and cauliflower at the grocery store. BUT... I am SOOOOOO happy that I can FINALLY buy exotic vegetables all year round. What a huge privilege!
Back to those pineapples... the small ones are as sweet as honey and they come from the area south of us around Chimoio. The real price for a local person is around 50mt each... I've seen them for sale at 100mt to the uninitiated. The big pineapples are more tart and they come from Zambezia. It is a long way away, so getting them here without beating them up isn't easy. They used to cost about 80mt, but that was before this year's price hikes. I have yet to buy one... but I will soon!
January marks the abundance of mangoes... greens abound, but lettuce is too wet and so are tomatoes (seems to be many with black spots right now.) Last week I bought avocados that seemed pretty local (bigger, kind of beat up and flavorful, instead of perfect and shiny and tasteless!) Avocados are usually most available in February.
We just finished the November/December glut of lichies, small plums and peaches from orchards in the north of the province were also easy to find... if you know where to look for them! I do... I've been here since before the dawn of the supermarket chains.
The local stuff is generally better and cheaper, so I try to stick with sourcing stuff from the market ladies before I head out to buy zucchini and cauliflower at the grocery store. BUT... I am SOOOOOO happy that I can FINALLY buy exotic vegetables all year round. What a huge privilege!
Back to those pineapples... the small ones are as sweet as honey and they come from the area south of us around Chimoio. The real price for a local person is around 50mt each... I've seen them for sale at 100mt to the uninitiated. The big pineapples are more tart and they come from Zambezia. It is a long way away, so getting them here without beating them up isn't easy. They used to cost about 80mt, but that was before this year's price hikes. I have yet to buy one... but I will soon!
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