Ingredient Spotlight: Cherimoyas

Cherimoyas also known as custard apples due to their sweetness and softness are a medium-size tropical fruit — related to the soursop – with a green, dragon-like scaled skin. The best specimens offer a white and creamy interior with a pineapple or banana taste. The fruit contains black seeds that are inedible. The best cherimoyas fruit come from Mexico and Central America but they are common in California.

Buying and storing cherimoyas
In season from January to May with a peak in March and April. Look for plump and compact fruit, without any brown patches. It’s better you let them rippen at room temperature. They are ready to eat when they yield slightly to gentle pressure, similar to an almost-ripe avocado. Keep cherimoyas wrapped loosely in plastic in the bottom of your refrigerator.

Preparing
Cut the fruit in half, discard the large black seeds, and scoop out the flesh with a spoon. Eat raw, it’s delicious! You can also make juice out of cherimoyas and even sorbets or sauces.

(Credit photo: CC by 2.0 Robert Couse-Baker)