Fruit of the day: caimito

Today's fruit is one I haven't seen in the market before. It's uncommon enough that the young kids I showed it to didn't know its name. Caimito is dark purple, round, smooth and roughly the size of a lunchbox orange.

The market lady sold me 3 for 5 cordobas. (around 20 cents) With such a low price, I figured they must be close to inedible--but they are surprisingly tasty. They had a very faint slightly unpleasant over-ripe smell. But that also could've just been the company I was in when I was purchasing them.

Cut in half, you can see a dark purple pulp that slowly fades to white around large black seeds. The seeds form a star pattern, much like an apple. The more purple the flesh, the firmer it is. 

The vendor warned me not to eat the skin or the seeds, so I scooped out the custardy, pulpy center for a bite. The flavor was mild and sweet. Not a hint of acidity. A tiny bit of a peachy flavor. Imagine baby  cereal prepared with fruit juice as the liquid. 

After a taste, I thought it might make a great fruit drink mixed with pineapple. The dark purple part was scoopable like the center and so pretty--so I threw the flesh into a pot of boiling water with a couple of hunks of pineapple. 

A helpful tip: you might want to go ahead and do your internet research on weird fruits before you try any experimental recipes. As I found out here that purple part, like the skin, while inedible is a great source of natural latex. 

Another helpful tip: removing latex from a pan is best accomplished with lots and lots of patient peeling.