Custard I can do without, especially the lumpy kind! However, the custard apple is another matter altogether! I’ve discovered the chirimoya. It's yummie!

Recently I tasted some tropical fruits that were completely new to me.  And they’re all grown down here in Andalucía, on the Costa Tropical.

The fruits I sampled for the first time, at the farm of a major grower in Almuñécar (Granada), were chirimoya, fresh mango, kaki, níspero, papaya and guayaba (guava), plus aguacate (avocado), which I was already familiar with, having it most days for breakfast.

But the fruit that fascinated me most was the chirimoya. I’d eaten helado de chirimoya as a dessert in a restaurant in Ronda a few years ago, but other than that I knew nothing about this unusual-looking fruit.

What I learned at Ramón’s farm is that the chirimoya lives up to its English name, the custard apple. It’s not a bad translation at all.  Once you slice it in half, you scoop out the white flesh with a spoon, easily avoiding the black seeds, and the fruit is indeed reminiscent of custard, both in texture and taste. De-li-ci-ous! 

You can also make a delicious sorbet with chirimoya, cider, lemon and  a dash of cinnamon, as well as a sumptuous ice cream, as mentioned earlier.

Of all the fruits we tasted on our trip – see above – my favourite was the chirimoya although the mango came a close second.

Both have already become regulars at our house, along with our breakfast avocados!

© Paul Whitelock

For a fuller article on all of these tropical fruits, visit the Olive Press website here.

Tags: Custard, custard apple, chirimoya, tropical fruits, Costa Tropical, Andalucía, Almuñécar, chirimoya, mango, kaki, níspero, papaya, guayaba, guava, aguacate, avocado, helado de chirimoya, Ronda, sorbet, Olive Press, Paul Whitelock, www.a1-solutions-spain.com