Aguama Fruit at the Market

Today was Market Day and we already posted on our favorite spots that we like to go to but today on our way out of the market we saw this very interesting truck parked on the street with this interesting fruit hanging off of it and a great photo op.  Out of respect I always like to ask the farmer/merchant if it’s OK if I take a picture.  Not only was it OK, but he explained to us what the fruit was and how to prepare it and gave us a sample.  He explained that the fruit can either be roasted or brewed to make a tea. 

He proceeded to unhook a bunch and insisted on giving it to us.  We offered to pay him for it but he refused multiple times.  We said thank you and went on our way feeling pleased and anxious to get home so that we could Google our new treasure.

When we got to our gate, our guard, Sebastian saw the large bunch of fruit sticking out of my market bag and instantly said “Aguama”.  I said yes we got it from the farmer at the market.  He proceeded to ask if he could show me something to do with it and took out his knife and peeled the skin back, almost like a fig, to reveal the meaty flesh and seeds inside. He sprinkled it with sugar and told me to taste.  I found it to be a little bitter, so I liked it better roasted like the sample at the market.

 

Now at home we Googled Aguama:

Aguama, Golden Clusters, a Medicinal plant with various healing properties to fight respiratory diseases such as bronchial cough and flu, and parasites and gastrointestinal ailments. It’s considered to be an exquisite fruit that can be found wild during the end of the year in Sinaloa.

It is best to roast it or to boil it in water with cinnamon and piloncillo (Mexican brown sugar).  I can’t wait to try it both ways and post the results in a future blog post.