The local 'Mercardo's' exotica

I'm posting these photos up as passionate reminder that even a quick visit to the local 'store' here in Guatemala is a foray into a kaleidoscope of colours, sights and smells. Some of the produce here may be musky and a little rough around the edges, but it is all as nature intended - ripe, delicious and full of flavour. It beats the plastic shrouded corpses that are jet-lagged and unripened that arrive in supermarkets in the UK, desperately trying to please but failing miserably on every level. Of course I miss the incredible British produce that I have become accustomed to cooking and eating with seasonal glee, and really I cannot compare but only contrast that with the local produce here. I guess I have become intoxicated by what's on offer - it's like tasting food on a higher octave or wavelength, a sensory attunement. If only you could smell and taste too, you would understand what all the fuss is all about.