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Molletes are a traditional dish served for breakfast in Mexico.

Today while walking through the streets of Coyoacán, we came across a bizarre-looking fruit neither of us had seen before. Mexico once again surprised us with the guamúchil.

Papausa is a prehispanic fruit found in Chiapas seasonally around the end of July through September. It is similar to a guanabana but smaller. Another unique relative includes the chincuya. In fact, in some regions, the fruits share the same name.

This armored ball with its hooked shaped spines, like many of its relatives, may look like a tiny green dinosaur, but in fact, it is a delicious fruit. The chincuya fruit falls in the family of annona and is closely related to the papausa (not to be confused with a papusa) and its most well-known cousin the guanabana.

The chile de arból is a long, thin red chili that is ubiquitous throughout Mexico. This dried chili pepper is spicy and can readily be found on most table tops or taco stands in some form or other. Usually blended into a delicious salsa, but sometimes just used crushed as a seasoning. It’s also a common ingredient used to spice up many Mexican recipes.

I first encountered these scarlet-hued blooms at Mercado Viejo in San Cristóbal de las Casas, Chiapas. I bought some that day and took them home to prepare them. After that, I have seen the flower growing in the milpa, on the roadside throughout Chiapas, and even represented in local textiles. When the beans form, the pods are edible whole, or you may remove them and eat the bean inside. They also have a starchy root that is consumed. Read more about how to cook with flor de bótil.

The chile habanero is one of hottest chilis used in Mexican cooking. It has a distinct floral taste accompanied by intense heat. The habanero is commonly used in the Yucatán, as well as many other regions of Mexico and other parts of the world.