Cherimoya

Today we stopped by a local farmers market to see what was there.  As we were buying some blood oranges at one table, the seller was telling us how they were his favorite fruit.  Then he mentioned that his 2nd favorite was there at the end of the table.  When I looked where he pointed, I saw a rather nondescript green fruit.  I thought it looked more like a vegetable really.  Just for fun I decided to get one to try.   He said something about a pit in the middle, so I cut into it, expecting to find a single pit, but noticed instead that it had large black seeds spread through out it.  It was ripe enough I could just scoop it right out of the rind.  The flavor seemed like a combination of fruit flavors all mixed in.

The vender told us it is called cherimoya.  Apparently Mark Twain called it 'the most delicious fruit known to men."  It has a fruity flavor similar to a mixture of various fruit.  Son said it reminded him of fruit cocktail.  Other names I saw for it were ice cream fruit and custard apple.

When the seller first started telling me about the color and texture of the fruit, it reminded me of the description I'd seen for durian so I asked him if he had ever had durian.  He said he had, so I asked if he liked it.  He seemed reluctant to answer, but I could clearly see the answer in the way he screwed up his face, so asked him if this cherimoya tasted like durian.  He assured me that it most definitely did NOT taste like durian.  I don't know if I'd go out of my way to buy it again because I thought it a little bland, but the taste was not at all unpleasant, and now I can say I've tried it.