What a WEIRD LITTLE FRUIT!

They're absolutely horrible if they aren't ripe enough (super firm).

I had one that was probably somewhere between succulently ripe and rock-hard unripe tonight, for the first time in a while. Chocolate... yes. Like a sweet, chocolate Italian ice of my childhood.

No matter how much I chewed, how much I salivated, how slowly I ate, every time I swallowed, it felt like a traffic jam in my throat.

And despite the fact they are juicy, something in the fruit made my top lip stick to the front of my teeth, so I couldn't run my tongue between them--very odd!

They're definitely fun, and something to eat if you can find them (and let them properly ripen).

Would anyone care to share sapote stories or fun facts? =)

i haven't had the chocolate sapote yet, but i've had the star apple and i know what you mean about the lip-stickiness. the fruit close to the skin of the star apple could be an industrial-strength adhesive, someone should alert NASA. i didn't really like the star apple, but i LOVE LOVE LOVE its cousin, the sapodilla. tastes like caramel.

i haven't tried either sapote or sapodilla
i feel deprived

that's okay.... life could be a LOT tougher LOL

so funny maui butterfly bout the industrial strength adhesive remark

now, it makes me even MORE curious

Every so often, someone here will post about the black sapote. I wish we could get them in Vancouver!!

Has anyone ever heard them called black persimmons?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/25/2008 11:28AM by VeganLife.

yes black/chocolate sapote is the same as a black persimmon.

i guess the chocolate sapote is actually in the persimmon family, and the star apple and the mamey sapote and the sapodilla are in the sapote family. and white sapote aka custard apple is a citrus.

thanks wikipedia!

Hey, where do you get it? My aunt's house had a sapota tree. When I was little I used to eat it every day.. Love it. I would like to know where you find it? farmers' market? Asian stores?

Take care
A Iyer

I live in South Florida and the sapotes and sapodilla are in season yum yum yum!! The sapotes are like chocolate pudding and the sapodilla are like brown sugar!! YUM YUM YUM!!!

Asian markets, for me, anyway.

Aaaack!! You are so lucky! In Vancouver we have a billion asian market but I never saw them. I did see/pick up cherimoyas and mangosteens, but never the black sapotes. Since they are in season now, I guess its worth taking a look again.

I had access to mangosteens maybe for a month, but then they went away. =( Always keep your eyes peeled! (heh... I've never said that since eating so much fruit...)

Wow I have neverheard of these fruits much less tried them. We very occasionally get custard apple here and I really like them - hard to beleive they are citrus though? and occasionally sharon fruit - always rock hard though and its luck if they ripen up or not.

I shall definately keep an eye out for these - they sound lovely - chocolatey -no way!!

What other unusual fruit can people recomend that I can dream of?

from a chilly person in the U.K

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Black Sapote
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Division: Magnoliophyta
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Ericales
Family: Ebenaceae
Genus: Diospyros
Species: D. digyna
Binomial name
Diospyros digyna
Jacq.

Black sapote (Diospyros digyna) is a species of Persimmon native to eastern Mexico and Central America south to Colombia. Mature trees can grow to over 25 m in height and are evergreen. The leaves are elliptic-oblong, tapered at both ends, glossy, and 10-30 cm long. Black sapote fruit are tomato-like and measure 5-10 cm in diameter, with an inedible skin which turns from olive to a deep yellow-green when ripe and an edible, brown pulp whose flavor and texture are often likened to chocolate pudding.photo

The "black Sapote" is also called the "Chocolate pudding fruit".

Black sapote is unrelated to the mamey sapote (Sapotaceae), and the white sapote (Rutaceae).

The fruit is seasonal and may be difficult to find. When in Mexico City, the fruit markets of Coyoacan are a good place to find Sapote Negro, as it is locally known.

flipperjan Wrote:
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> What other unusual fruit can people recomend that I can dream of?

my personal favorite is the dragons eye, or longan. also its close relatives the lychee and the rambutan. longan has been the only food so far that seems appealing to mono-eat. if i have longan in my house, i don't want to eat anything else.

How is a longan different from a lychee taste wise?

Check out [tradewindsfruit.com] for exotic fruit, many of which can be grown in the cooler climes.

The Pawpaw, or the northern banana, is of special interest. It has a creamy white custardy flesh. It is a cold hardy member of the tropical Custard Apple Family (sweetsop, soursop, and cherimoya) that is native to the US. It can be grown even in Canada.

Lee Reich's Uncommon Fruits for Every Garden has many unusual fruits that can be grown in cold climates

VeganLife Wrote:
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> How is a longan different from a lychee taste
> wise?

they are very close. longans are sweeter and have a lighter, cleaner taste i think. although i know people who insist lychees are sweeter, so who knows? lychees have more flesh generally, and i think they are more watery.