CASSABANANA - Giant Red Hotdog of Fruits! - Weird Fruit Explorer.

This is not a very, very big hot dog. This is what you call a casa banana. And casa banana is not super common where I am right here, but it's something that I have seen before in Colombia. And when I saw it there, I was actually talked out of buying it. And I've kind of regretted that moment for a few years now. So I'm really happy to get my hands on this now. The Latin name on it is cicana odifera. It has odor in the name, and that's because this is supposed to smell. In Spanish, this is usually referred to as calabaza de olor. I'm sure I'm saying that wrong, but that translates to smelly pumpkin. So you can see what we're working with here. Something that's supposed to smell. Only problem is, mine doesn't really smell. I'm not really getting much of a scent from this. The casa banana is originally from Brazil, but now it can be found throughout South America and in Central America. It is used raw as a fruit. It's supposed to be delicious. It's also used unripe as a vegetable. And people also use it kind of like a potpourri. They'll put this in their closet to make their clothes smell good. I have not seen this for sale at any of the markets here in San Jose, and that is something, because a lot of people bring fruit in from surrounding areas. San Jose tends to have a lot of variety. I found this in San Isidro de El General, which is more of a tropical zone. And maybe like three vendors at a very large farmer's market had this for sale. It's got some popularity there, but I think it's not the most common thing throughout Costa Rica in general. So how people say to cut it is actually like this, not like this. Yeah, I'm gonna do it this way just so I don't hurt myself. Pretty thick rind to it. You can see that there is a bit of flesh, and then there is the interior, and then there's the seeds. And I believe you're not meant to eat the seeds. I've read they are used medicinally, but it's not typically eaten. So I'm going to avoid those. And I've heard that you eat this part, the rind. I'm gonna also try this part, but I think you're meant to eat this part. So let's start with that. That has a smell. It's pretty strong. It's kind of pumpkin-y. So maybe it's okay. Maybe it's okay. Either way, I'm gonna try it. So I cut a little bit of just this part right here, and I think that's the part that you're meant to eat. So it's a good place to start. Very firm. So this is related to cucumbers, and it kind of looks like a gigantic red cucumber, but it tastes very different. I think the flavor of this might be a little hard to describe, but let's break this down. Okay, so first of all, the tartness on it, zero. No tartness. The sweetness on it is more than a cucumber, but less than a melon. I'd say it's maybe a three? Three out of ten? Something like that. Very firm. Which makes me think it would be riper, but it still tastes good. It still tastes like a fruit. It doesn't taste like a vegetable. The flavor of this is like... Let's start with cantaloupe and put a little bit of pumpkin on it. It's not super vegetal tasting, but it's got like the sweetness of pumpkin. And then maybe put some papaya in there? Yeah. Yeah, papaya is in there. And also milk. It's oddly kind of creamy tasting. You know, I don't really like cantaloupe. Not the biggest fan, but to have something that has like this kind of like density makes it kind of appealing. It's satisfying to chew on. Maybe it's meant to be softer. I don't know. But like how this is, I do like it. So next I'm going to try a little bit of this wad of interior here, which I don't think you're meant to eat, but you know, this is a rare opportunity. So I'm going to try it. First, I'm going to get some of these seeds out of it because those I do not want to eat because I've heard that those might be poison. Tastes good. It's got a weird texture though. It's very membrane-y. Like the membrane, like around orange segments, like that kind of texture. Maybe a little tougher. So I can see why you wouldn't want to take a bite out of that, but it's full of juice. You can see like that very, very juicy part of it. And the juice coming out of that is very flavorful and sweet. It's actually sweeter than the outer bit and softer. So I think maybe this can be used, but you're going to want to get those seeds out of there. So maybe use it for juice, like take all this out and like press it. So the juice comes out, but you're not getting this membrane or the seeds. Pumpkin snot tastes pretty gross. Melon snot, pretty gross. In here though, it doesn't have like as much of like that kind of slimy, nasty texture. It's more, you know, it's not like I really want to take a bite out of this, but it is more appealing than a melon or a pumpkin. But I'm not done with this. I was looking online for recipes using the casa banana and I didn't really find much. But when you actually look for smelly pumpkin, that's when recipes start showing up. And one thing that's popular to do with this is to candy it. So let's, let's do that. So this would be a dulce de smelly pumpkin. So I was just candying something else. So I have a little bit of sugar in there already, a little sugar syrup. I'm going to turn this on. The kind of sugar I'm using is one of these guys. What is this called? It's like a panela, I think, something like that. So I've got a little bit more of it here. And this, by the way, the syrup that I have already in the pan has a little bit of cinnamon in it. And the recipe I saw called for cinnamon and also jello, which I don't have. So I'm not going to do that, but I'm guessing that makes it more of like a jelly-like consistency. So the sugar has dissolved and I will now put the heat on low. I've got like a cup or so of the casa banana. It's going to go in there. I don't know how long this is going to take to cook. Probably a while. Okay, it hasn't been that much time, but this is soft. It was maybe 10 minutes, not even 10 minutes. So when you cook it this way, the texture changes. It's definitely not firm anymore, which is shocking because it didn't take that long to cook it. I don't like it. The very outer bit has a little bit of chew to it, but everything in the center has just turned into goo, which is fine, except that goo is mealy. It's got a mealy texture to it. And also some of the flavor that it had that I liked is gone. Now I'm just kind of tasting sugar. Not really tasting the mixture of like cantaloupe and papaya and all that, because those flavors are pretty mild. It's not like a strong tasting fruit. So when you do this to it, it kind of reduces that taste and just makes it sweet. I've had a lot of things cooked in syrup, a lot of candied things since I've been here, and this is not one of my favorite ones for sure. So although this is not my favorite thing, the Casa Banana is pretty cool. It's impressive looking, impressive color, the flavor on it when it's fresh, really interesting. I like it. It's a cool one. And yeah, I think that's about it. So thank you so much, everybody, for watching, and I will see you all next time. So I have a very special message for Dania. Dania, Merry Christmas. This is a message from both me and from your husband, Leo, who clearly has a very eclectic taste in giving gifts. Merry Christmas.