Fruit in Colombia: Granadilla, "How do I eat this?"

Granadilla for Breakfast

"How do I eat this?" was the first thing I said when I was served Granadilla for breakfast at Hacienda Guayabal outside Chinchina, Colombia. There it was sitting among a plate of sliced up papaya, cracked open and filled with black seeds and what appeared to be snot. It was similar looking to passion fruit, but I wasn't sure what I was supposed to do. My friend told me to just eat everything inside the shell. I picked up the light weight shell which was shiny and smooth. It was orange in color with speckles. The inside was filled with crunchy seed that looked like black sunflower seeds individually wrapped in tiny semi-translucent gelatinous packets.

Granadilla for sale at the market

The hard orange speckled shell of the granadilla

Inside the granadilla you'll find seeds in individual packets of jelly like fruit

The seeds of the granadilla provide a crunchy complimentary texture

 I held the shell like a little cup and used a spoon to scoop out spoonfuls of seeds into my mouth. First you get the sweet, slightly tart and floral flavor of the fruit from the flesh around the seed. Then as you bite, you get this amazing crunch which is the ultimate counter texture. After hollowing out the shell, there was this strangely beautiful skeleton left inside the shell that almost resemble coral formations. I tried granadilla as whole fruit and it also made wonderfully delicious juice.

The coral-like empty shell of the granadilla