Zapote Negro

It was a curious looking fruit I saw in the market, readily available right now and as early as November. Green as a lime, round like an hierloom tomato, and hard as an onion, the zapote negro is a relative of the more familiar mamey and known also by sapote or black persimmon. The kicker to the zapote negro is the black flesh, which might put off some western eaters. I've heard that it tastes great with a little honey or blended into a smoothie, but I scraped the black slime with a spoon and right into my mouth. The verdict: sweet, slimy, messy, and potassium-y like orange permissions. It was very unripe when I bought it, and it took about three weeks to ripen to a soft, edible form. The old trick of adding an apple to a bag of unripened fruit does wonders for regular joe orange persimmons, so I'm assuming it would work well with black ones. It was a little pricey at 5 pesos, it will not be replacing my more economical, fruity diet of bananas, mandarinas, papayas, etc.