Location: Home > food > Name this fruit, part II
Name this fruit, part IIPosted Apr 11th 2006 6:14PM by Nick VagnoniFiled under: FruitWell, I'm impressed. It wasn't even half an hour before Andrew M. correctly replied to my original post, identifying this fruit as a ripe black
sapote. Way to go. He's also right in calling it a 'black persimmon,' as it's closely related to the persimmon,
according to a fact sheet from the
horticultural department at Purdue. When I bought this black sapote at Robert is
Here, a fruit stand in Florida City, Robert, the owner, told me not to eat it until it started dripping. I kid you
not. So, I set it on a plate and, in about seven days, it went from a firm green orb to a deflated brown lump. (As a
side note, if you're ever anywhere in the Homestead/Florida City/Everglades area, you owe it to yourself to visit
Robert Is Here and get some fruit and a milkshake.) Another tropical fruit website had this to say about the black
sapote: "Ripe fresh fruit looks very unattractive and has little appeal to the inexperienced consumer." I'll
buy that.The term 'chocolate pudding fruit' is often used for the black sapote, and, while it may look like chocolate pudding (or
stewed prunes, as Purdue says), I didn't really think it tasted like it. I've heard the flavor described as mild and
nutty. While I wouldn't disagree, there was also a very sweet, almost liquor-like quality to the taste and smell. Like
a lychee or a cherimoya, there was a similarly perfume-like sweetness. Apparently the fruit is often served with milk
or orange juice, blended into drinks or turned into ice cream. I just ate it with a spoon. The texture was amazingly
close to flan or some other custard. I've never found that sort of trembling, egg-y mouthfeel in any fruit elsewhere.
In all honesty, the black sapote didn't completely win my heart, but I'd surely try it again, given the chance.
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