Sapo--who?

Every once in a while, I am sad that I live in the US. Don't get me wrong, living here is cool; but sometimes, I wish I lived elsewhere. I think I would feel the same regardless of where I lived. The only reason why I'm sad about living in the States is mainly their strict agricultural laws. I mean, even Canada is allowed to have some fruits we can't have like fresh mangosteen, rambutan, lychee, longan and the list goes on.

But, I'm a good sport--or at least I hope to be--I'd try frozen or canned fruit. With that said, today is sapodilla day! I don't know how to pronounce it, so I'm going to guess SA-PO-DIL-LA or SA-PO-DE-YA (in spanish?!). If I'm wrong, can you please let me know? I don't want to be like my sister (one who knows a lot of words but can't pronounce them correctly!).

Anyhow, I took my mom to Shun Fat (Asian market) and ended up browsing around. I was in the frozen food section while my mom went to buy pork ribs. I came across three frozen fruit choices: durian, jackfruit and sapodilla. I've had fresh Durian and Jackfruit, but never Sapodilla. (Actually, while at the market, I couldn't remember if I've ever had sapodilla; but, when I got home, I realized I've had the frozen kind before. And I think my reaction in the past was the same! Epic fail.) While dangling the bag in the air, I asked my mom if she ever ate this and she said, "It's good; but, that's frozen, so it's not good at all." So, like a good daughter I am, I ignored her comment and bought the frozen sapodilla anyways. Well, it was only $2.00. The jackfruit and durian were over $5.00 and only had a couple of pieces (didn't look tasty either!).

Stupid LA traffic, it took a little over 1 hour to get home. By that time, the sapodilla already thawed. Oh wells, it went into the fridge, awaiting its fate as an after dinner delight.

Sorry, I only have a couple of pictures. I felt it wasn't worth the time and effort to take more. And it was really messy.

^- Sapodilla tree, thanks wiki-p -^


^- Fresh sapodilla according to wiki-p -^

^- Frozen Sapodilla packaging label -^


^- 4 halves on a foam plate -^

Cost: $2.00 for 4 halves
Scientific Name: Manilkara zapota
Origin: Southern Mexico and Central America
Color: Brownish orange with white center
Texture: Frozen-soft, squishy, stringy, easy to peel
Description: Unfortunately, this fruit was thawed; so, it was pretty soft, squishy and slimey. For only four halves, it had a lot of water waste. It escaped the container and covered a good portion of the dining room table. Thank goodness, I didn't try to eat at my desk!

The water was saturated with Sapodilla sugar. It was slightly sticky and the color was light yellow--almost looked like diluted honey. As for the fruit itself, you could easily separate it into strips (stringy? veiny? old??). As for the sweetness, it is mildly sweet. This may be due to the saturation of water since the ingredients listed were water and sapodilla.

What is it like? Anything remotely close? I'm not quite sure. It may be its own taste; but, it tasted like a sweeter and milder version of a very ripe persimmons with a hint of honey. Its texture and seed resembled a cross between a loquat and persimmons. If a loquat and persimmon ever got married, it would definitely make sapodilla babies.

Overall Taste: Frozen sapodilla--half thumbs up, only because its unique flavor. I am pretty sure it would taste a whole lot better fresh since freezing can change flavors.

Please don't freeze sapodillas anymore! Oh, the fruitanity! Maybe if I had eaten it when it was still semi-frozen it would've been better. I guess I'll never know since I'm not going to buy it again. Maybe you should give it a shot and tell me about it--thanks!!