Mangosteen, cherimoya, soursop, sugar apple

Caz said:

Does anyone know where in the greater Puerto Plata - Sabaneta area I can buy fruit like these to try? I have looked for a long time but I only see the usual pineapple, mango etc. Occasionally I have found guavas and dragon fruit, and have tried wax jambu and a large red fruit described as a Dominican pear. I would love to try some of the others. There is also an oval fruit with a rough brown skin in Playero - how do you tell when it is ripe?

Thanks
Caz

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A very good fruit to try is n?spero, my favorite.

Caz said:

There is also an oval fruit with a rough brown skin in Playero - how do you tell when it is ripe?

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If it looks like this
La Gringa's Blogicito: You say sapote, I say zapote, they say mameyLa Gringa's Blogicito

it'll be zapote & you squeeze it (gently) to see if soft.

like so many things

Caz said:

Thanks Lambada - next time I'm in Playero I'll be squeezing gently - after checking to be sure JR is not around!!

A bientot - what does nispero look like please?

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I think there are various types of n?speros, but the type I'm familiar with, look like kiwifruit.

Last month I was hanging out with family members, all Dominicans, and we rated our favorite fruits: n?spero was the overall champ, with 6 out of 10 first-place votes.

Caz, google search Yahoo images - lots of pics there. Also, keep your ears open, you often hear street vendors selling them from their wheelbarrows or carts. They say the word twice & it sounds a bit like kneepero with the emphasis on the knee (JR don't even go there :cheeky.

Soursop is guan?bana, fairly easy to find though not as common as pi?a, lechoza, etc.

I haven't actually seen a cherimoya/chirimoya in the DR, they grow mainly in South America and in the Mediterranean.

Sugar apple might be what Dominicans call an?n.

In Latin America regional names include an?n, an?n de azucar, anona blanca, fruta do conde, cachiman, saramuyo, and many others.

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Sugar-apple - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The fruit called n?spero in Spain is loquat, not the same as its namesake in the DR which is sapodilla.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sapodilla

in columbia chirimoya is a very bad word.. lol and somebody here uses it for their name lol

I can guess... Funny though, that hasn't come up before.

Not sapodilla (known in the DR as n?spero) - and don't forget zapote!

Zapote is called Mamey in the US, heres a run down on Zapote / sapote


Black Sapote / Zapote Negra / Sapote Chocolate ( Diospyros digyna)



You can get these at "Superplants" Autopista Duarte in Villa Altagracia area, I have one growing in a pot, supposedly you can blend it up with some honey and make a "chocolate shake"



This link to a clip of someone showing a Black Sapote on youtube.
YouTube - Black Sapote in Mexico

Green Sapote (Pouteria viridis )



Mamey ( Pouteria sapota )

This is the one thats common here in the D.R. and known simply as Zapote.

Ross Sapote, ( Pouteria sp )

Seen these in Florida, but not in the D.R. pretty sure they could grow here also.

White Sapote (Casimiroa edulis )

again another variety I have seen in Fla. but not in the D.R.

Sapodilla, Nispero, (Manilkara zapota, Achras sapota )


These are the famouse Nispero, that everyone here seems to love, but nobody seems to plant. I had a big tree in my back yard in Hollywood Fla, Hurricane Wilma almost finished it off, but it is growing back now.

Sorry if all the pictures slow your browsing, but I felt a picture is worth a thousand words, and it can help prevent confusion as to what fruit we are talking about.

Great pics tropicdude. It's funny cause I grew up in The DR and you always heard about Nispero and Caimito and you'd never seem to find them anywhere. Believe it or not this is the first time I see what a Nispero looks like. Zapote (Mamey) is my favorite when it comes to smoothies

Limoncillos? I think that's what they're called.

limonicillos are delicious, especially if you like tangy fruit. but beware, they leave awful stains on your clothing that don't come out