Today’s word of the day is inspired by yesterday’s trip to the fruit market – la frutería. Back home, grocery shopping is often an unwelcome chore, as you weave your grocery cart through the supermarket, and choose produce that was picked who knows how long ago, and cultivated for appearance and transport rather than taste. However, in Latin America it’s often a tasty adventure … with the opportunity to eat and cook with exotic fruits, vegetables and spices.
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Cruiser Gwen Hamlin shops at a Mexican frutería. |
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This Buenos Aires frutería does it all. They are a carnicería (meat market), fiambrería (deli), frutería and verdulería (vegetable market or greengrocer). |
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Quiero una lechoza para comer hoy. K’yeh-roh oo-nah leh-choh-sah pah-rah koh-mehr oy. (I want a papaya to eat today.) This DR roadside fruit stand encourages you to eat what’s in season. |
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This fruit and vegetable market in Luperon, Dominican Republic posts a sign with the produce names in English and Spanish to help visiting cruisers (and other travelers). |
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Fruterías usually sell fruits, vegies, eggs. Each one is different, reflecting the owner’s unique “business model”. This Buenos Aires frutería also sells pastas artesanales (home-made pasta). |
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Bill Raynor shopping in a small fruit market in the Venezuelan Andes. |
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Fruits and vegetables are usually sold by the kilo (~2.2 pounds to the kilo). In Panama and the Dominican Republic they are commonly sold by the libra (pound). |
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Huevos (eggs) are usually sold by la docena (the dozen) or half dozen and wrapped in newspaper for transport. Bring your own egg carrier or carton. In this frutería, you can also buy them by the maple. (Maple is an Argentine word for the carton holding 30 eggs.) |
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These cerezas (cherries) are on sale for 10 Argentine pesos per kilo. |
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You can usually get carbón (charcoal) in the frutería |
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Small grocery store in Montevideo, Uruguay |
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A cruiser shops in a Guatemalan market Photo: Ellen Sanpere |
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Of course, in the larger towns you can shop in the supermercados (supermarkets) as Marcie Lynn and I are doing in Chile. Prices are in Chilean pesos (about 600 pesos to the US dollar when this photo was taken). |
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This market vendor in Puerto Montt, Chile is preparing choritos for sale (smoked mussels on a string) |
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For an easy-to-use phrase book that will give you all the words and phrases to enjoy the fruterías and markets of Latin America, get Spanish for Cruisers: The Boater’s Complete Language Guide
| ¡Buen Provecho! |
| Bwehn proh-veh-choh! |
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(Enjoy your food!) |