Black Sapote

Black Sapote is a member of the persimmon family, and, if you look at it, it looks like a green persimmon. The family is kind of cool they all produce these super sweet fruits, in great abundance, with little or no input on the part of the gardener. I bought black sapote fruits, planted the seeds, and ended up with trees. I planted these trees in my garden in Florida and they both grew vigorously and began producing fruit after three years. If you are a permaculture gardener in Florida, this is a fruit you should check out. It is sometimes called chocolate sapote because the fruit looks like chocolate pudding. It does not taste like chocolate, but it looks like it. Some people are put off by persimmons and their squishy texture. This tree produces a mushy fruit in a brown color. I can think of a few other names for the tree, but, I will keep this family friendly. But, the pudding that comes out of the green fruits is truly delicious, and, can factor into all kinds of baking activities. Like make it into pudding!

black sapote

The fruit really does look like chocolate pudding!

The curious thing about tropical fruits is that they often have a high oil content as well as a high sugar content. Northern fruits are just sweet. If you think about avocados, they are a fruit, and very oily. Well, some tropical fruits are both oily and sweet. And that would be the black sapote.

In English we call this fruit black sapote. The word comes from the Mayan word for fruit, which Zpotl, and through the Spanish influence the Mayan word morphed to Sapote and Sapodilla. Many fruits known to the Mayans, of which this is one, have some version of Zpotl, in their name.

The curious thing about this fruit, like the avocado, it is ripe when it is green. It never changes to another color. So picking them can be a bit challenging. I use my finger to dent them and if they are soft, I consider them ripe.

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