There’s a small window each year when Jalisco’s arid lands offer up one of their strangest and most delicious gifts: the pitaya.
From late April through May, this wild fruit of the Stenocereus cactus appears in markets, on street corners, and at festive stalls across the state. And for 2026, the harvest is already underway.
Don’t let the leathery, spine-covered skin or the “brain-like” innards fool you. Inside, the pitaya bursts with dense flesh in shades of yellow, orange, pink, red, purple or white, dotted with tiny seeds. The flavor? Indescribably sweet and refreshing — just the thing to quench a parched palate at the peak of the hot season. The deep red mamey variety is widely recognized as the sweetest.
In Techaluta de Montenegro — widely recognized as the cradle of Jalisco’s pitaya production — families have worked their fields for over 60 years, making the 90-minute trek to Guadalajara each morning and night to sell the fruit.
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