Mystery Island: Gourmet's Delicatessen

Mystery Island, located between Krawk Island and Maraqua, is a gourmet’s delight. Its speciality is the fresh fruits grown during the Gadgadsbogen festivities. Most of them are really well known, namely the Coconut, the Zeenana and the Doughnutfruit. However, many others fruits grow on the island, and are usually overlooked by fruit lovers all around Neopia.

If I ask you to name me something growing on Mystery Island, odds are that you will probably mention the Chokato. To sum it up quickly, Chokatos are simply large blue and brown tomatoes. However, their delicate chocolate taste makes them a gourmet eater’s favourite. Chokatos are usually used as pastry icing, because of their awesome chocolate taste. Rumors also mention that, if a Chokato is frozen, it might gain some magical powers and turn some pets Chokato-shaped. Sometimes, you might pick up rare Pink Chokatos, which taste like white chocolate.

Some tropical fruits and vegetables are really spicy. One of them is the Bomberry, a common Mystery Island fruit which grows where the grass was burnt. Therefore, you usually see Bomberry bushes near volcanoes. Bomberries are usually picked up when they are ripe, because of their awful taste when unripe. However, a strange combustion phenomenon might happen to some Bomberries, causing them to catch fire and gain a red coloring. Finally, sweeter Blue Bomberries can be found in Meridell. These fruits are also used to make drinks, such as the Bomberry Grog, a tangy Krawk Island refreshment, and potions, such as the powerful, yet explosive, Bomberry Elixir, used to gain defence.

Another well-known spicy fruit is the Octopepper. (Peppers have seeds, therefore they are fruits.) These sweet peppers can be picked up near the southern shores of the Island. You usually remove the soft tangy tentacles, one by one, to finish with the round part. Octopeppers are usually picked up while they are still green, as they become spicier after being picked, and their color quickly changes to red. It is uncommon to see Red Octopeppers in the jungle, but their taste is out of this world.

The Carnapepper is a pepper which grows on Mystery Island, near Geraptiku. They are spicy and delicious in salads. These vegetables are usually red, covered with small yellow spots, and they grow underground. They are usually picked to be eaten whole, or to be used as a popular sandwich filling. Island natives can also pick them out, dry them and use them as a powerful weapon, called the Carnapepper Dagger, which is an excellent duty weapon (eating and attacking).

If you are not big on spicy foods, you might try sweeter fruit, such as the Flotato. Flotatos are usually picked up when they are floating in the middle of Mystery Island’s numerous lakes: these sweet pink fruits have to grow in water to gain their lovely taste. These pink and yellow fruits can also be used to stuff turkeys during the Thanksgiving festivities on Mystery Island.

Of course, we cannot talk about Mystery Island food without talking about Juppies. May they be teal, purple, red or gold, Juppies grow everywhere and anywhere, making them some of the most popular fruits on the island. Red Juppies, which taste like sweet peppers, are usually fried and served as chips, but are also used to make the rolling Spicy Juppie Cheese. The Purple one is also used fairly often in cooking, even if it is sour. Most of the Juppies that are picked up by natives are covered with lime toffee and sold in the chocolate shop, as a popular sweet item. The elusive Purple Juppie Slurpbowl is also highly researched as a gourmet food. You can also find Golden, Teal and Cocoa Juppies on the island, which are less used in recipes, but delicious nonetheless.

Don’t get me wrong; Mystery Island isn’t ALL about fruits. If you do not like fruits, why not try some insular seafood or salads? Fishy Nibbles are simply fish tails, which were cut off and covered with salt water and left to dry in the sun. The island is also well-known for its delicious salads, such as the exotic Lobsterclaw Salad, the slimy Squirming Salad, the tangy Thistleberry Fruit Salad or the bitter Azzle Salad. The island’s specialty is the lovely Seafood Pasta Salad, which is shrimp, oysters, lobsters and olives mixed with spinach pasta and drenched with a wonderful secret sauce.

Of course, you can get some tropical food from Jhuidah’s cooking pot, such as Bargil Surprise, a lovely mix of Dargil Meat and Bargella Root, Muntando Fruits (which have incredible training abilities), made from Teal Juppies and Kraku Berries, and finally the desirable Munparaberry, a quenching treat, made from Munuberry Slushie and extremely rare Transparaberries.

Keep in mind that Mystery Island is full of resources. There are other fruits and vegetables you might eat, starting with the weird Combomelon Plant, the rare Phear, a pear which grew near Snowberry plants, the salty Sardplants, coming in orange, purple and red varieties, the hot Lavaberry, collected in volcanoes, the elusive Songray or finally, the odd Carburnup Pepper.

To conclude, every year, during the Gadgadsbogen festival, miracles happen on the island and you will never know what you may find. The key is always to keep an open mind about new tastes. You might not like everything, but you will be sure to love something you will discover while travelling. It is a matter of opinion, and the worst that can happen is that you may not like it. Tastes are not innate; you have to develop them.

Get stuffing!