February and March are caimito (ky-MEE-toh) season. Caimitos are available at the big produce market in San Ignacio, Belize. Look for a round fruit, about the size of a tennis ball, 2”–3” and greenish-purple to purple. It’s native to the West Indies, but has been introduced to most tropical countries by now.
The name Star Apple comes from what you see if you cut it crossways (like an orange), because the clustered seeds inside splay out in a star pattern. The Milk Fruit name refers to the ring of white latex that oozes out right next to the skin (don’t worry, it’s edible). The pulp color ranges from white and pink to purple.
Latex is sticky. If you get sticky fingers when you cut this, it will wash off with soap and water. However, it sticks to lips pretty firmly (and feels a little like you painted your lips with rubber cement), so instead of eating it out of hand, spoon out the pulp and place it in your mouth, avoiding your lips. You can either remove the seeds before you spoon the pulp, or put the entire spoonful, seeds and all, in your mouth and suck the pulp off the seeds.
If you’d rather not mess with the sticky latex, it is said that if you store the caimito in the fridge for three weeks before eating, it apparently deactivates the latex. More about caimitos can be found here.
The caimito is pretty tasty but not strongly flavored, rather like a grape or plum with after-tones of persimmon, and a fun new fruit to try.
Sapoti?