Food Food Food!

As the title suggests... This post will be all about food. So, here is another list, this time of the different/new foods I've tried since being here. Not all of them are specific to St. Lucia, but there are still some tidbits of information/experiences that I'm going to share... more so that I remember I suppose, but if you're reading this then I assume you might be interested as well...

Bread -- My host mom bakes her own bread. It is so much better than store bought bread. I usually take a couple of slices with some cheese for lunch at school.

Grapefruit -- Although I used to dislike grapefruit it's been growing on me here. I sometimes have half a grapefruit for breakfast or an afternoon snack.

Oranges -- Taste the same, but they're green not orange!

Bananas -- They are ten times better here. I go through like 10 a week. I usually have one for breakfast, bring another to school, and sometimes eat one in the afternoon.

Soda -- About once a week I treat myself to a soda either Coke or Sprite. These are a treat because they are nice and cold, very refreshing in such hot weather. The difference is that the soda here has a lot more sugar. It's very very sweet, which changes the flavor ever so slightly.

Juice -- There is so much juice here!! I am in love! Each day I get home from school and have a nice cold glass of whatever juice is in the fridge that day. Each juice is made fresh. My host mom juices the different fruits and adds different amounts of sugar and water herself. I've had pineapple juice, golden apple juice, grapefruit juice, passion fruit juice, and lime juice. So far I think lime juice is my favorite. My host mom said that it lime juice, sugar, and banana extract. I am definitely trying to make it when I get back.

Fried Plantains -- Best. Thing. Ever. Fried plantains, are... plantains (kind of like bananas, but not) that have been fried. They are very sweet and have a caramelized taste too. I like them warm, but they good cold too... I mean, as I've said they're delicious no matter how you eat them.

Conch -- On Friday I went to a fish fry type deal with some friends and tried conch (as in conch shells) for the first time. They catch them fresh and grill them with what I think was butter, garlic, and maybe a couple other spices? It was pretty good, a bit rubbery, and the skin was particularly difficult to chew, but I liked it.

Golden Apples -- There is a fruit here called a golden apple. When it's ripe it is fantastic to just eat raw and fresh. You peel the skin and then sink your teeth into the juicy, almost sour core. The center seed is spikey and is easily caught between your teeth so you have to be careful to eat around it. Before the golden apple gets too ripe St. Lucians also pick them, peel them, and then make a juice out of them. It is actually the first thing I had to drink here and the juice is just so perfectly refreshing, I can't even describe it.

As delicious as the food is here I'm starting to miss the freedom and choice of doing my own shopping and cooking back home. At the moment I'm missing baked goods and surprisingly my go to meal of chicken breast, noodles, butter, and cheese more than anything,. I might cave one of these days and hit up one of the many American fast food chains on the island, but I'm putting that off as long as possible.