Wednesday Word: Cherimoya

[calzephyr]

Cherimoya - noun.

Sometimes it feels like North Americans are at a disadvantage with what we find in the grocery store. A literal world of culinary delights awaits...just not within our reach :-D Today's interesting word and fruit is the cherimoya, which is related to a previous Wednesday word, soursop. It's also the name of the tree that bears the fruit, which is found in Central and South America.

By Hannes Grobe 21:31, 5 November 2006 (UTC) - Own work, CC BY-SA 2.5, Link

Comments

[stonepicnicking_okapi]

I know this one! It's very good!

[full_metal_ox]

Mark Twain had this to say about cherimoya in Roughing It:

We had an abundance of fruit in Honolulu, of course. Oranges, pine-apples, bananas, strawberries, lemons, limes, mangoes, guavas, melons, and a rare and curious luxury called the chirimoya (sic), which is deliciousness itself.

And: We had an abundance of mangoes, papaias (sic) and bananas here (in Hawai’i), but the pride of the islands, the most delicious fruit known to men, cherimoya, was not in season. It has a soft pulp, like a pawpaw, and is eaten with a spoon.

My own experience is that cherimoya—like dragonfruit and persimmon—is a difficult fruit to describe to people familiar only with Anglo chain grocery fare; comparisons are necessarily both hybrid and imprecise. From inside my skin, the flavor partakes of banana, pineapple, pear, and strawberry; the texture has a delectable custardy creaminess that lends itself to freezing and smoothies. (The black seeds are toxic but large and easy to avoid.)

I found it at, of all places, Meijer’s in Kettering, Ohio.

[stonepicnicking_okapi]

I don't know them as well as you. I think I've had the juice and chirimoya flavored yogurt. But I remember liking it.

[calzephyr]

Aw! Thanks for your comment :-) It makes me happy when someone connects to a word I posted.

[med_cat]

My mom loved this fruit :)

It's available by mail order (in season) and in some stores (Sam's Club, etc.)

[calzephyr]

Oh cool! I will have to look closer at the Asian supermarket. Usually I'm in and out for snacks and steam buns :-)

[full_metal_ox]

Yes—Asian and Latin groceries would probably be the best places to look. (Meijer’s, as White Anglo as chain groceries get, is rather surprising in that regard—they’ve also carried the likes of kiwano, persimmons, and Buddha’s Hand.)

Here on the Gulf Coast of Florida, tropical fruit can be grown locally, and I’ve seen cherimoya at the neighborhood Farmers Market—regrettably way outside my price range, though.

[calzephyr]

Huh! I guess the grocery buyer has a fondness for them :-)

[med_cat]

Yes, check 'em out! :)

[minoanmiss]

I think I am the only person ever who doesn't like these; I find the texture the wrong kind of slippery. Which leaves more for my fellow Jamaicans, who adore them.

[calzephyr]

Yeah! That's the thing about fruit--each piece can be wildly different too!