The wonderful, edible Mamey

The piles of mamey stood out from all the other fruit in the Fiesta produce section. They looked a little like melons, but they clearly weren’t. So I bought one. In retrospect I mainly regret only buying one, because they were quickly out of season and I lost the chance to get more.

The mamey, which is also called the sapota, is a fruit almost unknown outside of Florida. When you cut it open, it looks a little like a mango, with several large black pits. But the taste is entirely unlike anything else I’ve ever had. It tastes a little like a fruit custard. It is a creamy and rich fruit.

A few weeks later, I was at a fruteria on Riverside Drive, and I noticed that they had homemade mamey icecream. The proprietor had also been at the Fiesta and seen the piles of mamey and transmogrified them into a cold treat unlike any other.

How did it taste? Let’s just say that my favorite flavor is no longer peanut butter cup Ben and Jerry’s. This is the sort of discovery that makes all the disgusting food frakking worthwhile.