POST 7:  Produce of Peru: Fruit and Vegetables!
Yes, yes this is a whole post not only dedicated to food but specifically to fruit and vegetables!  First of all, not only is it cheap cheap here (success!) but it is also delicious, ripe, and local!  Talk about some fantastic stuff.  Well of course there are apples, oranges, clementines, and pineapples (all stuff that is easy to get in a US Supermarket) but then additionally there are some yummy new foods that I have tried here that would be super expensive in the US.  Here are some examples:
Chirimoya - this fruit is about the size of a grapefruit and has a green skin that turn a bit black in places when it is ripe (very much like a pear).  Also similar to a pear is the texture when you cut into the white center: very soft and will mush together in your mouth once you bite it but at the same time almost milky!  It is a very sweet, creamy fruit (I would eat it for dessert) and you don’t eat the black seeds or the skin.  Gabriella’s rating = 4.5/5! Yum!
Granadilla- This is a small little fruit that seems at first to be a citrus of sorts (its orange on the outside) but instead of having a somewhat flexible skin like an orange etc, its really hard.  So you dig your nails into this shell, crack it and peel it away like its a pomegranate. Actually, the inside part is also similar to a pomegranate with little seed filled sacs full of juice.  So you peel away the skin and either use a spoon to pull up the juicy parts and eat them or you just bite it.  Seeds are swallowed and will be digested.  Its pretty sweet/tasty but not as creamy as the Chirimoya.  Gabriella’s Rating = 4/5

Pepino- This is a fruit that looks like a zebra on the outside (white/yellow with purple stripes going down the fruit.  On the inside its very juicy and very much similar in taste and texture to a melon, like a cantaloupe.  However it did not have much flavor and though it looks cool, I was disappointed to report it didn’t taste like much.  Gabriella’s Rating = 1.75/5
Lima - yes this is a fruit named after the city.  It looks very much like a lemon on the outside but more like an orange, clementine when you peel apart the individual units.  Its definitely a citrus but this was perhaps the most disappointing fruit because it literally tasted like nothing, no flavor! It wasn’t bad or gross tasting, but it wasn’t good at all so unfortunately, low reviews. Gabriella’s rating = 0.5/5
Maize Morrada - Like I mentioned in the post below = Purple Corn Gabriella’s Rating = 3.75/5
Yuca - a stringy starch.  Pretty good but more of a complementary food to the main course rather than the main flavorful thing.  Gabriella’s Rating = 3/5
Platanos - Plantains! These are similar to bananas but they must be cooked before eating them, they are like a banana vegetable.  Well I’m sure you have heard of them as they are pretty popular, not just in Peru!  I’ve mostly had them for breakfast mashed together with pork (see picture) and I have had them in a burger called “a lo pobre” since they are cheap and easy to come by.
Potatoes - So the Incas are known for lots of things but one of these things is their Potatoes!  They grew over 100 different varieties and they are all pretty tasty.  One of the most popular varieties is the yellow potato.  Just like its name, its a very vibrant yellow and has a rich, full flavor.  You will find these potatoes all over: fried, cooked, even the french fries are not of the standard american manner but much thicker and yellow.  One dish that I have tried and really like is called Causa Rellena, its pretty much like mashed potatoes rolled flat and then filled with lots of things such as chicken, avocados (called Paltas here instead of aguacates), mayo (the standard).  One time we went out for dinner and I ordered a Causa Verde which had basil and spinach mixed in with the potatoes so it looked green, then on the inside, instead of chicken it was this yummy trout seafood mixture.  I loved it and ate it all!  So Gabriella’s Rating for potatoes and their many varieties = 4.5/5