It was an innocent Monday afternoon and I placed my latest prize on the table. I cut in to the one that looked the closest to perfect: a slight give in the skin, no obvious bruising, heavy flesh.
It was a gorgeous orange and I ran my spoon in to the soft flesh as it gave easily. Pausing briefly to take in the yeasty aroma, I tucked a small bite in to my mouth. It softened on my tongue and the texture quickly changed to a powdery substance. Suddenly my lips were smacking like a dog who had eaten peanut butter. The mumbling and cussing began, “What the? Did someone just swap out my mamey sapote for a poisoned cotton ball?”
I headed directly to Google noting this was not the first time I’ve come close to being poisoned from my fruit ventures. My lips and tongue were still smacking. The tannic coating was everywhere. This could not be right…
Luckily, the internet delivered, as it often does, with information that would have been useful prior to me shoving the fruit in my mouth. Apparently this one, with its gorgeous orange flesh wasn’t quite ripe. The skin should be a slightly deeper color, closer to red and the texture on the outside should give very easily when pressed. Luckily I had another one and while the flavor here was quite good, the texture was a mix of perfectly soft pudding and cooking string. I think this one was a day too late. I ate a few bites and then scooped the rest to freeze for a milkshake. I only had access to two of these and they were a generous gift from my friends at Specialty Produce, so I don’t blame the fruit at all for my failures. If you can get your hands on one, my advice would be to get some insight from whoever is selling or giving it to you on when to eat it because the flavor is very promising.
APPEARANCE Rating: 
Brown sand paper, leathery pod, about the size of an average man’s full hand. Orange/red, salmon flesh with a large, shiny brown seed.
AROMA Rating:
Strong sweet potato and yeast combo. Slightly sweet. Neither good nor bad.
TEXTURE Rating:
Soft texture. Dense and smooth in some spots, stringy in others (like a mediocre avocado). Slippery in your mouth.
TASTE Rating:
Cooked sweet pumpkin or sweet potato with a nutty undertone.
OVERALL Overall Rating:
While this first foray in to the world of the mamey sapote was a bit dicey, I would definitely look for more of these. I adore pumpkin and sweet potato and pudding so somewhere in here there is bound to be a favorite fruit. I just know it.
| FRUIT Mamey Sapote |
PEAK Spring |
PROVIDED BY Specialty Produce |
| VARIETY Unknown |
GROWN California |
OTHER NONSENSE
Mamey Sapote is the national fruit of Cuba, which leads me to wonder about the national fruit of the United States. Apparently we don’t have one. WHAT a travesty! Why aren’t fruit growers canvasing the streets? Why aren’t our presidential hopefuls talking about this grave absence? Where is the dignity?
Dear Sir,
I want to purchase 1000-2000 Mamey Sapote seeds.Can you export to Taiwan?
Sincerely
Simon Lin
I also want a thousand sapote seeds like Mr. Lin. I had one about a week ago and it was SO good! It tasted and felt a lot like eggfruit/canistel and was supremely filling.
Steve – I’ve NEVER seen a canistel. I would love to get my hands on one or two. And I would jump at another Mamey Sapote. I blended them in to my vanilla protein shakes a few times and the flavor was phenomenal.
The first time I had these I tried to make a smoothie. Two mamey sapote and a banana in the blender. And, a little milk (I came up short on the milk !) It was too thick to drink, but pourable, so I put it in a large glass in the fridge (thinking I would buy and add milk the next day.) The next day I checked the glass and the would be smoothie had jelled into a pudding. WOW !!! It was great and I ate the whole thing in one sitting.
Mamey sapote is a bit difficult to find and expensive when you do find them, so I plant 2 trees (yeah, I like them that much!) One is about 4 years old and 12 feet high and should fruit soon …can´t wait !!!