Black sapote (chocolate pudding fruit) – fresh and frozen

Description

The black sapote is a fruit which we have been working very hard to source (and establish how to effectively harvest and transport them to the UK) for many years.

We have now finally procured the fruit! We believe we are currently the only stockists in the UK. The price is high but reflects the rarity of the fruit, the expertise required, the significant work that’s been put into sourcing this fruit and the high air freight charges for sending it to the UK.

At the moment it is not possible for us to viably reduce the price but we will work with the growers with the aim of being able to offer better prices to our customers in the coming months.

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The black sapote is a fantastic fruit. For us here in the UK it represents the holy grail of fruits. It’s one of the most sought after fruits that has taken us many years to procure.

There’s a clue as to reason for the excitment surrounding black sapote in its nickname, ‘chocolate pudding fruit’. The ripe flesh of black sapote certainly does look like chocolate mousse and has virtually the same texture too. Whilst the flavour is not the same as chocolate mousse some people do note subtle chocolate-like flavours amongst other flavours including honey, date and caramel. We would regard this fruit as medium-sweet to sweet with a subtle delicate flavour.

Black sapote are a small to medium size fruit which grow on trees. Their shape somewhat resembles bramley cooking apples and they can be a similar size too. The skin of the fruit is bright-green turning to olive-green as they mature on the tree and finally very dark green to brown once ripe and ready to eat.

The gloss dark brown flesh of the fruit is soft, loose and buttery. It’s like a really soft, slightly-mashed avocado. There are usually a few medium sized seeds in the middle of the fruit.

The black sapote is native to Mexico and Central America but now also grows well in USA, Florida and Philippines. Due to its sensitive nature, it isn’t grown commercially on a significant scale, nor is it exported around the world in large quantities.

It can be hard to recognise the slight colour change of mature fruits from bright-green to olive-green. Experienced pickers are needed to ensure only the mature fruits are harvested the fruits. In order to reduce disruption to the tree and avoid ripe fruits being knocked and falling to the foor, a long harvest pole with a fabric net is used to cut and pick the fruit.