Cherimoyas!

One of the best things about living in Ecuador is the surprising variety of fruits, many of which I had never heard of until coming here to live.  The fruits pictured are cherimoyas, or “custard apples.”  They have a rather strange appearance if you have never seen one before.  The skin looks rather reptilian with its green color and scaly appearance. At this writing I believe we are  just coming out of the season for these delicious fruits.  They can be picked while still very firm or even hard to the touch, then let to ripen over a few days time into the perfect custard like texture.  Inside they are white fleshed and contain a number of large black seeds.  Once the fruit yields slightly to the touch they are ready to eat.  Cut in half and eat it with a spoon.  It is something like a sweet fragranced pear, but much smoother.