Sugar Apple 番荔枝

番荔枝, 釋迦, sugar apple, sweet sop, antemoya, cherimoya, or any of the other names that this type of fruit is called, it is good tasting. The flesh is a white creamy texture and it has a sweet perfumed flavor when ripe 甜度高. We got this tree-ripened 樹上熟的 specimen last weekend at a local farmer’s market and I took a photo of it before my daughter and I sliced it open and ate it. It’s an early crop.

To me, one of the joys of being in a place is the local produce since there is still so much localized genetic variety out there. We also saw locally-grown bananas which are better than the ones on the supermarket shelves of Western countries 樹上熟的水果比超級市場買的好多, but the sugar apple is more interesting and is associated with a special memory for me. I remember when I first lived in Taiwan enjoying a couple of these when I visited the rugged southeast coast. Taidong 台東 is the center of the commercial growing of the sugar apple in Taiwan. When they are in season there, we have driven through field after field to looking for a stand that will sell baskets of them to buy for friends.