fruits from the motherland: mamey sapote

part of my adventurousness in eating exotic foods stems from my experiences growing up, visiting family in merida (on the yucatan peninsula of southern mexico). I'll be doing a short series on the fruits I would eat there (and forevermore look forward to), since many of them appear slightly odd at first...but, once you try them they will linger in your memory.

while you may be tempted to confuse this particular fruit for a biogenetically engineered red avocado...it is actually the tropical melon fruit of the mamey sapote tree.

the mamey actually shares many characteristics with the avocado in look and feel, from it's rough outer skin to its creamy inner pulp and large brown pit. the differences, however, take this fruit to another realm...it's sweet, custardy consistency more readily lends itself to soften a savory dish, scooped out and eaten in the palm of your hand, or blended into a smoothie, sorbet or ice cream. some describe the taste as a some combination of honey, pumpkin, chocolate and almonds. some consider the fruit to be an aphrodisiac.

my mother grew up with mamey as well, as they are native to southern mexico and northern south america. I remember her recounting how my grandmother gertrudis would make fresh mamey into ice cream for them -- I'm planning to try this myself! she would churn the mashed fruit with ice and sugar, adding ice and churning, adding ice and churning, hour after hour....ahhh, the sweet smell of nostalgia. I'll be using my lean, mean, cuisinart ice cream machine.

beyond simply tasting sweet and creamy, wikipedia also credits the mamey with serving as a holistic remedy for the cubans -- as a "veritable panacea for gastro-intestinal maladies", as well as to treat headaches and venerial disease. well, there you have it.

Comments

[Bri]

Thanks for sharing this wonderful fruit. I love exploring exotic produce, and this is a fruit I had heard of, but never seen. With it's medicinal use to aid with tummy troubles, and the creamy flesh, it must be related to papaya. What a treat.

[Bri]

Thanks for sharing this wonderful fruit. I love exploring exotic produce, and this is a fruit I had heard of, but never seen. With it's medicinal use to aid with tummy troubles, and the creamy flesh, it must be related to papaya. What a treat.

[Bri]

Thanks for sharing this wonderful fruit. I love exploring exotic produce, and this is a fruit I had heard of, but never seen. With it's medicinal use to aid with tummy troubles, and the creamy flesh, it must be related to papaya. What a treat.

[Lydia]

I've heard of mamey but never seen the inside of it -- and it does look amazingly like orange avocado!

[Julie]

I've never heard of mamey (and I don't think I've ever seen it for sale) but your description makes it sound delicious.

[michgcall]

My mom is from Merida and we used to spend summers there and thats where I first had mamey and a mamey milkshake. It's not my favorite but definitely worth the experience!

[Diana]

From what I've heard, you never will find a mamey in the States-seems they are illegal to import whole because of a halucinogenic compound in the seed. You can get pulp frozen in most southern grocery stores here, though.

[Julianna]

I actually bought the Mamey in NYC at a little grocery store near Union Square...maybe they got around it somehow? (They also sold me the Monstera Deliciosa...)

[Hillary]

Wow - they really do look like red avocados! I want one! Do they sell these in regular grocery stores?

[Hillary]

Wow - they really do look like red avocados! I want one! Do they sell these in regular grocery stores?

[Hillary]

Wow - they really do look like red avocados! I want one! Do they sell these in regular grocery stores?

[Julianna]

They might depending what part of the country you are in...places like Florida, CA or Chicago (huge mexican pop.) may just have them if you look in the right outlets...

[Online Pharmacy no Prescription]

Like my mamma used to say: A comer mamey nino!!!.. Mamey or zapote is a tropical fruit and you can combined it with a different ingredients in order to get a funky crazy dish

[Adelina]

Suddenly you just brought me back to my great, wonderful childhood period! This was my favorite fruit to eat and I didn't know how much I yearn for its taste just until now, from reading your post!

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I like the taste of sapote. Very particular