What’s In Season: Cherimoya

Spring is this close and that means our long winter nightmare of farmers markets with only apples and sweet potatoes is just about over. Hopefully, this will be the first weekend when we show up to the market and say, “ooooh, what the hell is that?!”

To help us decode our anticipated bounty, our pals over at Good Bite have launched a weekly column on What’s In Season, focusing today on something I’ll admit I’d never heard of:

You may have seen this irregular, green, leathery-skinned fruit at the supermarket but it originates from South America. A cherimoya, or custard apple, tastes like a combination of banana, pineapple, and papaya with a cream-colored flesh flecked with black seeds. Cherimoyas should be firm without blemishes, and can be stored at room temperature until slightly soft and ripe. To serve, chill the cherimoya, cut it in half, spoon out the seeds and eat the flesh with a spoon.

As far as cooking, cherimoyas are frequently used in dessert recipes such as custards and puddings, hence the name “custard apple.” Because cherimoyas are in season right now at local farmers markets, next time you see one of these odd-looking fruits, rather than stare at it unknowingly, score a cherimoya to try raw or in one of the following recipes:

·Cherimoya Dessert [CKR]

·Peach and Cherimoya Puree [Weelicious]

·Cherimoya Fresca [Latina]

·Pink Cherimoya Sorbet [RZ]

·Strawberry and Cherimoya Crepes [iFood]

·Cherimoya Custard [ACO]

·Cherimoya Shake [YumSugar]

·Bananas Faustos with Cherimoya Salsa [Food Network]

·Cherimoya Orange Parfait [Kouz Cooking]

·Cherimoya and Lemon Frozen Daiquiris [RM]

More on what’s in season at Good Bite.

(Photo: Laura Padgett)