Fruits
Synonyms: mamey apple, mamey, Santo Domingo apricot or South American apricot
botanical name: Mammea americana
Origin and importance
The mammee apple is common to the Caribbean, the
West Indies and parts of South and Central America. It can also be found in
Florida. The fruit, which is named like a pip fruit and looks like a stone
fruit but is neither, grows in the warm, humid rainforests on a tree that can
be up to 25 m tall. The mammee apple is related botanically to the mangosteen and
belongs to the berries.
The fruits ripen during the summer months. The trees are usually found in
private gardens, making the mammee apple of only limited importance
economically.
Appearance, taste, characteristics
The fruit is 7.5-20 cm in size and
spherical. It has a thick, rough, yellow-to-brown, inconspicuous skin. At its
centre are one to four large, smooth-skinned inedible seeds.
The pulp is firm, juicy and light-yellow to reddish-yellow and has a buttery
texture. It is crossed by white threads that are edible but bitter, and
therefore are usually removed before the fruit is eaten. Otherwise, the fruits
taste sweet, slightly tart, tangy and aromatic, calling to mind apricots,
mangos, vanilla and caramel.
Form of consumption, use, processing, practical tips for preparation
The juicy fruit is eaten fresh. You can cut it
open and spoon out the pulp, or you can cut it into thick strips. The white
threads should be removed. The pulp tastes good in fruit salad, or with wine,
sugar or cream. Alternatively, it can be cooked to make purée, jam, or sauce
and eaten, for example, with ice cream. It can also be tinned.
In the French Caribbean islands an aromatic liqueur (eau de Créole) is distilled
from the blossoms of the mammee tree.
The pulp that is directly beneath the skin and the juice that drips from the
branches are used to make mammee wine.
Ingredients
The mammee apple is somewhat more rich in vitamins than true apples.
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This article was written by
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