Fruit Guide: Our Colorful Favorites in Costa Rica

One of the best things about Costa Rica is all the exciting fruit that grows here.

Fruit is an important part of the economy and social culture of everyday life in Costa Rica. One of my favorite activities is visiting the colorful fruit market “La Feria” in San Isidro on Wednesdays and Thursdays.

We tried our way through the exciting selection and found our favorites.

Coconut

Whenever we visit the fruit market, we like to buy a fresh coconut, which the vendor cracks open for us. There’s no more authentic way to experience tropical Costa Rica than strolling among the stalls with fresh coconut water in hand. We also love picking up a fresh coconut to enjoy on hot days at the beach.

Chinese sucker

Ever since we arrived, we’ve seen this red, hairy fruit everywhere. Beneath the skin, which can be a little tough to open, is a translucent, pearl-like flesh with a deliciously sweet taste. Be careful not to eat the large pit hidden inside. Mámon chino is incredibly cheap: you can buy several kilos for just NOK 20–40.

Soursop

Lina is the group’s official soursop lover, and if you ask her, the fresh, tangy soursop fruit tastes exactly like the green and yellow BUBS candy in the pick-and-mix section in Norway. Its spiky green skin conceals soft, white flesh with black seeds that simply tastes incredible.

Mangosteen

One of my new favorite fruits since I came here is mangosteen. The dark purple rind cracks open when you gently press it between your palms, revealing small, white segments of fruit inside. Mangosteen has a mild, sweet citrus flavor that is definitely worth trying if you get the chance.

Cacao fruit

Eating fresh cacao fruit is completely different from eating chocolate. You take out the beans and suck on the white pulp around them, which tastes mild and sweet. Then you have to spit out the cacao beans themselves, because you should not eat them straight from the fruit.

When we visited Longo Mai in September, we got to make our own chocolate from dried cocoa beans. The beans were roasted over high heat before we cooled them down, ground them using sheer muscle power, and shaped large chocolate balls by hand.

For me, this was an especially memorable experience that I will remember every time I eat chocolate.

Snakefruit

Snake fruit is the fruit I remember best from the fruit tasting we had at the market. I recommend snake fruit to adventurous fruit lovers who want to try something completely out of the ordinary.

The texture is a little firmer, and the flavor is both fruity and tart in a way I've never experienced before.

Papaya

Papaya is a more controversial addition to this list, and opinions are divided. But those who like papaya LOVE papaya! Papayas are perfect for making so-called “papaya boats.”

Scoop out the center of half a papaya cut lengthwise, then fill it with yogurt, fruit, and granola. One advantage of this breakfast is that there’s no breakfast bowl to wash afterward.

Dragon fruit

In my opinion, dragon fruit is the prettiest fruit on this list. So I was a little surprised by how mild it tasted when I tried it for the first time. Our tip is to eat it with a clean palate, preferably before your first cup of coffee in the morning if you're having it for breakfast.

It can be cut into small cubes, but we also like to eat it with a spoon straight from the skin.

Passion fruit

I wasn't originally going to include a paragraph about passion fruit, but when we celebrated my roommate's birthday, our host mother had bought a passion fruit-flavored cake.

It tasted so good that I had to include the fruit on the list. Maracuyá is just as flavorful with yogurt as it is in freshly squeezed juice, which is widely made in Costa Rica.

Banana

Now you might be thinking, “Guro, we have bananas in Norway—you’ve been eating them your whole life.” But you have to believe me when I tell you that the bananas in Costa Rica are on a whole other level.

I bet you haven't heard of manzana-banana—a banana that tastes like apples! Bananas are readily available and an obvious favorite for students on a budget, since each banana costs less than 1 krone.

Bananas

If you're buying bananas at the grocery store, be careful what you put in your shopping cart so you don't make the same rookie mistake I did.

I thought I had bought regular bananas until I peeled one and realized that I had bought plantains, which are something entirely different. Plantains are pan-fried or deep-fried either before or after ripening, depending on the dish, and are an everyday part of Costa Rican food culture.

Fruits we have in Norway

In addition to bananas, there are several other fruits that, despite being available in Norway, are of a completely different quality here in Costa Rica and are worth mentioning.

Mango

The entire group of students has fallen head over heels for Costa Rican mangoes. I still haven't eaten a single mango in this country that wasn't fresh, and we all agree that they're a hundred times better than any we've tasted back home in Norway.

The flesh is silky smooth with the perfect golden-yellow color, and the flavor is absolutely fantastic.

Avocado

I had no idea avocados this fresh existed until I came here. Not only are the texture and flavor heavenly, but I was completely unprepared for the variation in the size of the avocados.

Everything is sold here, from the smaller size we have in Norway to gigantic varieties as large as a human head.

Pineapple

Costa Rica is one of the world's largest producers of pineapples, so it deserves a place on the list.

At the fruit market, you can buy whole pineapples for less than ten kroner! The best pineapples have the most wonderfully juicy, sweet flavor, unlike any pineapple I have ever tasted before.

With this list, we have only scratched the surface of Costa Rica's rich variety of unique fruits.

I hope that those of you traveling to Costa Rica are looking forward to sampling the enormous variety on offer, and that those of you who haven't been here yet feel inspired to start planning your own visit soon!