O Museo e o Mercado

Last Friday we took a trip to the Museo Afro. The exhibits in this museum deal with the history of African Americans in Brazil

The photography exhibits interest me the most. One photographer, Hans Silvester, traveled down to the Ono River in Africa to photograph inhabitants of the area. Although cameras were prohibited in the museum, I snuck a couple pictures of my favorites.

Yesterday we visited a popular market. It was huge! There were so many stalls, selling fruits, nuts, fish, meats, and cheeses.

The fruits were so interesting and new to me! Here are some of the more exotic ones:

This red, spiky fruit is called a rambutan. To eat it, you cut it open and eat the insides. The inside is a white, gel-like sphere, and tastes sweet. It's delicious!

This is a Pitaia Columbiana, or Columbian Dragonfruit. It has a super sweet taste, and a very soft, almost mushy texture. I wasn't a huge fan - it's a bit too sweet for me!

This is a caju (cashew) fruit. The cashews that we're used to eating are actually the seed of the fruit (the brown bit on top), and are poisonous if eaten raw. The fruit part is mainly used to make juice, and it's pretty good!

This weird fruit is a graviola, or soursop. I didn't get to try this one, unfortunately, but it sure does look strange.

Figs aren't uncommon in the US, but I hadn't seem them this large or raw before!

The jabuticaba fruit grows on a tree, and is kind of like a grape. The insides are white and very juicy, and really delicious!

I didn't get to try a tamarillo either, but apparently it's similar to a tomato, just sweeter?

Maracujá Columbiana, or Columbian passionfruit. I bought one of these, and plan to make a caipirinha with it later tonight!

Golden plum! I didn't try one of these, but I did try a red plum and it was so flavorful and juicy.

Starfruit! The portuguese name for these is "carambola." They're citrus-y, and are sometimes used as garnish for drinks here.

There were lots of spice vendors too - so many spices!

Oh hey there Kelly