This afternoon I was on the way back to the apartment after meeting with my intercambio when I gave a closer look at a puesto (street cart) that is stacked with candy. I was surprised to find that the vendor is making all of the candy herself in the style of Puebla which is a state just north of the state of Oaxaca and is famous throughout the country for its candy. Of course I had to do some taste-testing for research purposes. All the candy is made with fruits, vegetables, seeds and nuts. The large round dark red paste is tamarindo, It is delicious but contains the seeds so with every bite you have to spit out a seed or two--and the seeds are the size of raisins. The yellow round is pineapple and coconut, and tastes exactly like that. The pink cylinder is very special, strawberry and sweet potato, and tastes just like that. Candy made with sweet potato is classic in Puebla. There are other fruits with sweet potato like coconut, pineapple, zapote. The white cylinder was my favorite in this group, coconut with cajeta. Lastly, the most special and impressive is lime filled with coconut. There is only the outer shell of the lime which is candied then filled. It is delicious! This puesto was quite a find. Who could mind eating their fruits and vegetables this way?
I can't imagine candy made from tamarind especially with seeds, but the color is beautiful. It would be fun to see her maks the candies. Can you translate zapote and cajeta?
ReplyDeleteCajeta is goat's milk that is heated until it carmelizes. Or you can buy it in a can, which is a more consistent product.
ReplyDeleteBlack zapote is similar to persimmon in size and shape. Like persimmon it is ready to eat when it is so soft you might think it is spoiled. The interior looks like chocolate pudding. The taste is not sweet, not tart. People here love it.