Fruit Maven » Cherimoya

Unusual Fruit You’ve Never Heard Of

Fruit Maven — Tue, 17 May 2011 16:52:05 +0000

As summer is sneaking up on me, I’m starting to think about various fruit I would love to try. My fruit forays have slowed in the last year, but believe me, I still think about finding those elusive little gems that hide in the most unassuming spots. Here are a few that I’ve heard of but have never come across. I’d do a little happy dance (or three) if I could get my hands on some of these. This list isn’t even close to exhaustive, just a few that are swirling round in my brain in no particular order…

Relatively common but a variety I want:

Peacotum
Paw Paw
Mamey Sapote
Surinam Cherry

Fruit with an unusual color:

Blue Apricot
Blue Java Banana (Ice Cream Banana)
Pink Cherimoya
White Blueberry
Pink and Purple Finger Limes

Fruit with a cool name:

Bastard Cherry
Delicious Monsters
Congo Goobers
Lovi-lovi
Num-num
Umbrella Fruit
Doctor Hogg Apple

Exotic fruit:

Lilly Pilly
Camu-Camus
Cashew Apple
Biriba
Peanut Butter Fruit
Star Apple
Jaboticaba
Ice Cream Bean

And tons of berries (I’ve hardly tried any):

Salmonberry
Loganberry
Cloudberry
Chokeberry
Jostaberry
Seaberry
Honeyberry

Atemoya

Fruit Maven — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 21:03:24 +0000

If you are still hoping to find your prince by kissing a little tree frog, then this is the fruit for you!

Atemoyas, a cross between the cherimoya and the soursop, look like tumorous little forest creatures but taste like tropical flowers. Eating one is a pure delight, but so is reading about it. Take this page for example, a scientific description for all intents and purposes, but it takes the atemoya to a whole new level (for me at least, but I’m a bit nerdy that way). I don’t know about you but these kind of details just make me blush (are they seriously talking about the picture below?): delicate apex, creamy lines around the areoles, elliptical, less hairy, prominent and angular, firm, pliable, fragrant…wowza! Fruit can be very inappropriate.

APPEARANCE 2.5 out of 5 stars

Dusty green, wobbly, gnarled looking fruit with tan flesh and gorgeous black seeds.

AROMA 5 out of 5 stars

Sweet, tropical and floral. Luscious, luscious, luscious.

TEXTURE 4.5 out of 5 stars

Very slightly fibrous, slightly grainy (like a pear), yet creamy and juicy at the same time.

TASTE 5 out of 5 stars

Mix of sweet pineapple, pear, banana and strawberry.

OVERALL 4.25 out of 5 stars

Extremely delicious fruit. Just about as yummy as you can get. Atemoyas are sweet and bright and delicate. I’m not sure I can tell the difference between this and the cherimoya particularly, although I’m not tasting them side by side.

FRUIT Atemoya	PEAK Unclear (Fall – but they are at the Farmer’s Market now!)	PURCHASED Farmer’s Market
VARIETY Unknown	GROWN Rainbow, CA

Sexy Fruit for Valentine’s Day

Fruit Maven — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 14:18:37 +0000

There is something sexy, enticing and adventurous about fruit. In some ways trying a new fruit is like falling in love. It requires abandon and risk. You have to search for it and once found, you have to be patient and careful so you don’t bruise or damage the beautiful nectar inside. Sometimes it works out and you have the most amazing experience, and sometimes you just end up wondering why you wasted so much time admiring something so dull that when you really think about it, kind of smells like vomit.

And so in the spirit of love and Valentine’s Day, I say ditch the flowers and party it up with FRUIT. There are lots of ways to go, so you have no excuses.

Sweet Hearts:
Seckel Pears, Cherimoyas

Not-So-Traditional Flowers:
Mangosteen, Ugli Fruit

Symbols of Love:
Passion Fruit, Pomegranate

Seductive Aphrodisiacs:
Figs, Apples

Direct and to the Point:
Banana, Papaya

Dr. White Cherimoya

Fruit Maven — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 17:55:29 +0000

If you start each day listening to Hearts on Fire and telling yourself you really are the greatest, then this is the fruit for you!

APPEARANCE 4 out of 5 stars

Heart shaped green fruit with smooth scales, big enough that I wanted to use two hands to lift it (maybe 4-5 inches across), beige flesh with big black seeds.

AROMA 5 out of 5 stars

Extremely sweet and floral aroma reminiscent of vanilla, strawberries and banana. I can not stop bringing it up to my nose. Sooooo alluring. There should be perfume made of this. I am completely puzzled by the existence of pear perfume and not cherimoya. Weird.

TEXTURE 5 out of 5 stars

Smooth and creamy, slightly grainy like a soft pear.

TASTE 5 out of 5 stars

Tropical ice cream or pudding, just an insane mix of flavors from guava to banana to strawberry to pineapple all covered in a deep rich vanilla with a hint of spice.

OVERALL 4.75 out of 5 stars

This tastes like exotic, cool creme brulee. I can’t believe this comes off the tree this way and did not require hours of mixing and baking and hovering on my part. As you may know, I like fruit quite a lot, but this is the first fruit that has knocked me over with love, particularly since it looks like a heart when you cut it in half. SWOON. It really is amazing. Find it and eat it.

FRUIT

Cherimoya

VARIETY

Dr. White

PEAK

Winter

ORIGIN

Ecuador,Columbia,Bolivia

GROWN

California

PURCHASED

Farmer’s Market

NOTES

Cherimoya is also called custard apple but of all the fruit flavors present here, apple isn’t really one of them so I am rejecting that name. You will see in the top picture a slightly different looking cherimoya with little nubs or nipples. That one has a pretty different flavor profile and I will talk about it later. I am giving you a few recipes below, but I personally can’t imagine changing one thing about this fruit other than eating it raw or maybe chilled a bit. Well, I would change one thing…those two cherimoyas cost me $12. Worth it? Yes. But highway robbery nonetheless.

RECIPES

Cherimoya Milkshake
Cherimoya Pancakes (scroll down)