Some people don’t like to try new foods. They know what they like, and they’re reluctant to try something new.

Especially if it’s sort of ugly. Like a custard apple, Annona reticulata. Custard apples regularly start showing up at BIB’s Garden Share in February, and just as regularly they get bypassed by homeowners who don’t know what they are and think they don’t look very appetizing. They’re lumpy, and range in color from a muddy brown to a nice brownish red.

Regardless of color, custard apples are ripe when slightly soft, and if you happen to open one that isn’t all ripe (only parts of it might be ready), just leave it out overnight in a lidded container, and try again the following day, when the rest of it will probably be soft and delicious.

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These are treasures, well-loved by Belizeans for their custardy texture, and delicious flavor. Belizeans put a ripe one in the freezer and when it’s solid they dribble condensed milk over it. It’s said to taste like ice cream.

You can eat it out of hand by ripping off the rind and slurping your way through the goodness, but cutting it in half is tidier and if you don’t have a nice veranda handy for spitting the seeds off over the edge, you can deposit the sucked-off seeds in the cup of the rind as you excavate out the custard with a spoon.

Custard apples range from about the size of a baseball to that of a softball. The color of the insides ranges from nearly white to deep rosy pink. But they all taste great when ripe.  Next time you see one in the market, tuck it in your shopping bag and give it a try.