Crazy Fruit Adventure: Cherimoya

When I thought of fruit growing up; I thought of Red Delicious or Granny Smith apples, plain old Naval oranges and  yellow bananas. Not super exciting honestly. Incorporating more fresh fruit in my diet has caused me to branch out in my search for constant variety. Imagine my elation when I happened apon a most strange  specimen in the produce isle. 

This interesting fruit was called a Cherimoya. Native to South America this tropical fruit looks kind of like a lizard tomato. So naturally I had to purchase one for my tasting pleasure and at almost $5 a piece I was hoping for deliciousness. Now it seems that these little lizard tomatoes are a bit like Durian fruit in that everyone describes the taste differently. I read mostly that it should taste like vanilla cream; but others said things ranging from pineapple to bubblegum. That seemed like quite a range of otherwise unrelated flavors.  When ripe it should give just a little to the touch and look a little beat up.

 It is recommended that they be eaten chilled so I popped mine in the fridge to get it nice and cold. 

A couple days later J and I decided to crack the Cherimoya open. The flesh was very soft and creamy but it didn't smell particularly good. No big deal, smell isn't always indicative of taste. So I got a small spoonful of the white flesh and popped it in my mouth. The first flavor I detected  was sweetness. Not a sweet that brought to mind any other fruit I was familiar with, just straight up sugary. The end note was papaya with a little less of the stinky feet essence that I usually assosiate with papaya. It was not the most delicious thing I'd ever eaten but I did take at least four bites to see if I warmed up to the taste more. Long story short, I am not a Cherimoya fan. If you like papaya you will most likely love them. I find them to be much superior in flavor and texture to the papayas I've had. Not something I would repurchase but I am super happy I tried it. And you never know, there might be a bubblegum flavor Cherimoya our there just waiting to be eaten. Not likely, but one can dream.

Hope this was informative and if you are a papaya eating fiend then go find you some lizard tomatoes today! Bye!