The best kept secret Auz foods

If you’re arriving from North America, you’ll notice how fresh the fruits and vegetables are in Australia. Amazingly, you don’t need a knife to peel a mango if you’re there in the right season. But make sure it’s a Bowen mango. They’re the best along with delicious custard apples and passion fruits. Queensland has the perfect climate for these tasty fruits, so it’s the place to try them.

Mangosteen Magic

Photo courtesy: Obsidian Soul — Wikimedia Commons

One of the luxuries of Tanzania was the variety of fruits seasonally available. I remember a mangosteen vendor, squatting on a corner with her big kipapu filled with the fresh aroma of the juicy fruit plucked from the tree.

Kikapu

I like the sound of this Swahili word. I remember seeing plain baskets everywhere in Dar es Salaam: filled with fish from the fish market; loaded with oranges, limes or mangosteen by fruit vendors; used to pack up ebony carvings at the end of the day. These huge baskets were neatly woven and served a practical purpose.

A Garden of Eden

While on our tour on the Can Tho River, we stepped from the boat and walked through what I considered a Garden of Eden.

A day on the river

Can Tho was not your quiet little city. It was the biggest town in the Mekong Delta so consequently motorbikes were almost as prolific as HCMC.