If it makes you pucker, it's Nica! The joy we find in sour fruit.

Only one block west of The Garden Cafe, you’ll find the heart of Granada—the main square, where daily life unfolds and where we cross paths with neighbors, friends and colleagues on our way to the bank, the paper store or the market.

The main square is a must-visit for anyone coming to Granada—it’s where you truly feel the pulse of the city. This is also where you’ll find some of the simplest yet most beloved nicaraguan street foods, including fresh fruit sold in small bags.

When you come across the fruit vendors, you might wonder what these strange-looking fruits are all about.  Well, they are mostly sour fruits— mango verde, jocotes, mimbros, mamones, coyolitos and grosellas—all of which have a very special place in Nicaraguan culture.

For Nicaraguans, sour is not just a flavor, it’s a whole experience. Most of us grew up eating green mango, jocote, guayaba and coyolito.  In my case sometimes I’d buy the fruits when school was over and other times I’d pick it straight from the trees when exploring my grandpa’s farm—I’d sprinkle salt, lime and chile—a flavor combo that just sticks with you for life, and becomes nostalgia in fruit form. Nicaraguan food isn’t very spicy-hot, but it is flavor-forward. Sour fruit with salt and chile hits that sweet–salty–sour balance we love. If it makes your mouth pucker a little, even better.

But why do we like unripe fruit so much? Perhaps weather, the tropical climate here demands balance, sour and salty flavors feel quite refreshing. Sweet can be heavy; sour wakes you up. A green mango on a hot afternoon? Qué divino! It doesn’t get any better.

Unripe fruit in Nicaragua is social. Someone shows up with a big bag of mangos verdes from their tree, and suddenly everyone’s cutting, seasoning, and arguing about how much chile is “correct.” It’s communal and informal. If you can eat mango verde without making a face, you’re nica. It’s one of those small cultural things that says, “Yeah, I’m from here.” It’s almost a badge of identity.

So when you see a Nicaraguan happily munching on an unripe mango like it’s candy, just know—it’s comfort food, childhood memories, and tropical logic all in one.

Intenso, ácido, y bien nica.

My friend Ana admiring the perfection in these green mangos.