Not actually a bullfrog despite Mark Twain's fondness.

[mrissa]

Timprov has been doing the grocery shopping this year, and Timprov, like most of the other people close to me, knows that my favorite thing to say about produce is, "What on earth is that?" So he brought home a cherimoya.

People, this thing was good. Peel it, get the seeds out--they are large, dark seeds, detached from the flesh, easy to get out--and eat the bits that ensue. So pleasant. It tasted like something I had as a child, but I can't think what. (C.S. Lewis would probably think that meant it tasted Platonic in some form; never mind C.S. Lewis. This is a Mark Twain fruit. All the webpages say so.) markgritter suggested that it tasted like the actual fruit form of Fruity Pebbles, and Timprov suggested the actual fruit form of white LifeSavers before going on to propose that the cherimoya is the answer to what fruit "fruit flavoring" is supposed to taste like.

This has more depth and complexity of flavor than "fruit flavoring," much less those other nasty things. Highly recommended. Go get yourself one.

Comments

[txanne.livejournal.com]

I've eaten the frozen kind--I can only imagine how much better they would be fresh. I tried them because Stephen Maturin rhapsodized on them.

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

You're a braver soul than I am--I love Stephen Maturin but do not consider his opinion any kind of culinary recommendation.

[txanne.livejournal.com]

But I always try food I read about in books. (Except klava. Haven't figured out how the press works.)

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

Standard line in my family for random meat dishes: "tastes like kethna."

[txanne.livejournal.com]

Hee.

[cadithial.livejournal.com]

Where does one find said fruit?

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

Same place one finds everything else! At Byerly's.

[aliseadae]

I remember one day I had gone to the grocery with my parents and I spent quite a while looking through all the odd things they had in the produce that I'd never heard of. They had a little book with descriptions of everything.

[seajules]

"Deliciousness itself," and he was right. I've got one ripening in the fridge now. Definitely need to watch the seeds, though. Toxicity is only fun when you mean it.

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

The seeds came out quite readily in this one, but I warned markgritter and Timprov just in case, that if they bit down on something hard I'd missed, they should not keep biting.

[aerinha]

because I'm lucky enough to live where they grow, I've eaten quite a few. An easier way to eat them is to slice in half and hold in the palm of your hand, and scoop the fruit from the peel with a spoon. You can either de-seed with the spoon as you go or pull them out of your mouth as you eat like watermelon seeds (how we've always done it in our family).
When they're very soft it's almost like a custard pudding. Sooooo good.

My stepdad had a cherimoya tree for years till a parasite killed it. Now I have to buy them like everyone else :(
I'm glad to hear you've discovered them!

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

We only had the one for the three of us. I see how your way would be easier if I'd had one or even half of one to myself!

[adrian-turtle.livejournal.com]

They are sometimes called "custard apple." Some of them are very good indeed, but others can be sort of dull and pasty. I haven't figured out how to distinguish the good ones before purchase.

[rysmiel.livejournal.com]

Darn, that photo's from the bit at the last Farthing party where my camera ran out of batteries, isn't it ?

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

I don't know, but I didn't get to try whatever was being et, if this was that. I figured it's easier for me to get places where they have interesting produce than it is for most people, so I stepped back and let others have at it.

[aliseadae]

My dad and I went to the grocery store today and he bought one. Now we'll all have to try it.

[seagrit.livejournal.com]

That's funny, you're the second person I know to blog about trying a cherimoya. (http://fieryjane.livejournal.com/510209.html is the other one)