Exotic fruits and glorious juice

Fruit here in Colombia is really quite something.  Lulo, nispero, zapote, granadllia, uchuva...ring any bells? These are just some of the new fruits I've discovered during my time here.

Sliced up and eaten as snacks, served as toppings for breakfast or as parts of delicious desserts, the sheer variety of fruit here means there is no excuse not to be filling up on these vitamin-rich, natural sweet treats. Or, why not drink up the wonderful array of fruits at one of the various fruteras around the city?

Just check out the frito selection here at Los Compadres. No fruit or veg to be seen, but that's where the juices come in!

Fruteras here sell not only delicious juices, but also offer up those tasty and much loved fritos. Empandas, carimañolas, deditos, arepas, patacones...essentially just an awful lot of very delicious (and very beige) food. Here is a quick rundown of some of my favourite fruteras so far.

Frutera Los Compadres (Calle 74 entre Carreras 46 y 47)

Los Compadres sauce collection - gucamole, garlic, various chilli sauces : they've got it all. 

Perhaps one of the most famous fruteras in Barranquilla, Los Compadres has a firm fan following, and is visited as much by busy workers in the morning as it is by tired and tipsy party goers at night. The range of fritos is immense, and I'm slowly working my way through them all. I also like that here you can buy portions of flavoured rice, which invariably come with either meat or chicken.

Frutera El Compadre (Calle 79 y Calle 76)

When my sister came to visit, I felt it only right to introduce her to the wonders of fruteras, and so together we headed to El Compadre, another famous spot in the city. I opted for some meat empanadas and she went for the classic dedito (cheese finger) and a little baked spinach pastry. We washed down our snacks with some delicious and exotic juices en leche (with milk). The brown juice is nispero, which has a distinctly nutty flavour, and the pink juice is zapote, which I believe tastes like a mix between carrot and strawberry...but really it's unlike anything else I've tried before!

Zapote juice (left), nispero juice (right), with my sister's veggie goods on the left and my meat-filled goodness on the right.

Frutera Fruticao (Calle 93 Carrera 49c)

And I remember the days when freshly squeezed orange juice seemed like a treat!

A lot of fruteras prepare their juices in advance to have them ready for order, but at Frutticao they make them as you order, meaning you can skip the enthusiastic servings of extra sugar often added. You also have the option of different types of milk (they haven't quite reached the soya option yet, but skimmed is on offer). Serving only a few fritos, this place is really all about the juice, and as you can see from the list below - there's quite the selection to choose from.

Fruteras are the perfect place to stop for a quick juice and bite to eat, at all hours of the day. I continue on the quest to find the best spot in the city, although mixed opinions may have me searching a long time!