Fruit of the land

Recently, one of the students from western Uganda, Justus, was going home for the weekend to look for school fees for the children, and he said he'd bring me some "cocow."  With his accent, I wasn't quite sure what he was talking about, but thanked him nonetheless.

He returned with a kavera (polythene bag) bursting with fruit:  the biggest bananas I have ever seen, and the elusive "cocow."  Of course, he was talking about cocoa.  I never knew it grew in Uganda!

I tried to find something to photograph so you could have a size comparison, but it's probably easier to tell you that they're about the size of an ear of corn, and about that easy to peel.  I've never shucked a banana before.  These bananas aren't sweet like traditional bananas, and one must be sure to be incredibly hungry before eating!

See?  The bananas completely take over the fruit basket.  The Irish potatoes in front are quite small, the cocoa at the left is presumably normal size, and the mango in back is a nice size, a little bigger than two of my fists (because I have tiny hands).

Once I hacked into the cocoa, this is what I found.  I feel like the proverbial dog who caught the car:  I'm not quite sure what to do with this.  Justus told me to just suck on it, that it's sweet.  He's right, it is sweet, and sticky, and I'm not quite sure what to do with it in my mouth.  I bit one, and that was an incredible mistake - raw cocoa is worse than powdered cocoa.  

I may have to Google some recipes.