Bloody Tuna

Once again I have made another trek to Peru. It has been an interesting visit so far. In Chile and Peru they have a cactus that looks very much like our South Texas prickly pear. The fruit of these cacti pears, commonly called cactus fig, Indian fig or TUNA in Spanish and are deliciously edible. I have enjoyed this seedy, sweet fruit at many hotel breakfast buffets....not knowing I was eating prickly pear fruit!

Until I was invited by my new friend/office assistant to go on a lunchtime tour of a Peruvian fruit market around the corner from one of our larger offices, I was totally ignorant. There are so many wonderful fruits in South America. How could I refuse? She is very proud of her country (Peruvian Pride = "orgulloso") and wanted to show me what Peru has to offer.


Please allow me to introduce my Incan princess  Jennifer Valera. She is standing in front of the market we are to visit.
I am humbled by her knowledge...
She has a Masters Degree in Project Management and works for Jacobs Engineering in Lima, Peru. She is also tri-lingual in Spanish, English, and is working on fluency in Korean, as she loves to read Korean love novels.



Here are a few pics of the "tuna" I chose from the buffet this morning...and what it looks like after I have peeled it for my afternoon snack.

Most of the tuna in Chile is green, so my estimator, who traveled with me this time, wanted to know what kind of tuna I had. He was intrigued because he had never seen a red tuna before.
So, I made up a name and called it "Bloody Tuna!"

If you ever see this on a buffet...TRY IT!
"Bloody Tuna" is delicious...if you don't mind the seeds!