Tag: Puerto Rico

Quenepa or Guinep

Photo Credit: Chrysaora

The quenepa is a tree-grown fruit found in a gigantic swath of the tropics: From Florida to Mexico it grows, and across the Caribbean and Central and South America. It is my favourite fruit, by far, because it is a bit like candy. That is why kids adore it, as do virtually all adults who grew up with it, as I did in San Juan, Puerto Rico.Julio Ojeda-Zapata

In the English-speaking Caribbean aka British West Indies where I grew up this fruit is known as guinep; a tasty treat sold at the market. On weekends my mom would return from her shopping trip with a bunch. My brothers and I would eat the bunch as quickly as they were handed to us. The last time I ate guinep was in 1998 in Antigua.

July 4th, 2011 - Mojito Mint

I love mojitos. I love the taste of rum, mint and lime blended together over crushed ice. In the past, my wife and I have experimented with making them at home. We ha??ve never made it taste quite right and recently I found out one reason. We had made our mojitos with spearmint. That’??s the most common type of mint found at the farmers market. Recently a friend of mine who travels to Puerto Rico quite often told me that I needed a special mojito mint. I thought she was kidding but out of curiosity I poked around on Google. Well … she was right. I found a place in Florida that shipped me the exact mint used in Cuba for making authentic mojitos. I am going to enjoy my summer!