Pitaya

A good way of comprehending what this little monster is, is to think about a dragon fruit in half its usual size, with a yellow outfit and bigger seeds. In fact, the yellow and red dragon fruits are brothers.

They share similar physical characteristics – the yellow one is also filled with white flesh and black seeds. It can be slightly sweeter and softer than the more common dragon fruit. The red version is very widespread in the whole Asia although it is a native of Central and South America.

Bet many of you didn’t know that dragon fruit is the fruit of a cactus?

Even though it’s one of the tropical fruits that is a native here (unlike apples -_-), pitaya can be easily bruised during transportation, increasing distribution cost. So, since it’s relatively more expensive than other fruits like banana or guava, it’s not widely consumed in Bogotá, the landlocked high altitude capital where transportation can get complicated.

At about US$1 – 1.5 each, compared to prices in other countries, such as in HK (where you can find it at places like 360 at US$ 3 each), it’s still a steal!! So much so that my dad had hoped that I’d sent him a box of pitayas when he received a parcel notice from Colombia!