Chocolate Sapote - Diospyros nigra

This soft custard is difficult to harvest but delightful to eat. It’s a bit difficult to time the harvest correctly as you must wait until the calyx (think of the green part of strawberries or the part of the jamaica hibiscus that we use to make tea) lifts off the fruit. (see the picture below). It will quickly turn the fully ripe brown and fall off the tree so once the calyx has lifted off the fruit, i prefer to let it finish ripening on my kitchen table. I’ve only successfully harvested about half dozen of these as “tree-ripened” when I find a fully ripened one still on the tree. They notoriously fall off almost as soon as they get ripe enough to eat so it’s best to finish ripening on the counter.
I like to eat this plain or I will also add a little maple syrup for a vegan chocolate pudding. I love the smooth custardy dark rich chocolate colored sapote negro. Sapote is a word in Nahuatl language system meaning soft fruit. Consequently chocolate sapote, White sapote and chico sapote (which I grow all three) are actually from three different plant families: persimmon, citrus/rue, and sapotaceae (which also includes mamay which I grew successfully for several years but it died).