Day 156

Tejocote: I decided to break away from my melon theme today and try another fruit I discovered at the BHFM on my last shopping trip a few days ago. When I spotted these small crab apple-like things near the front of the produce section, I had no clue what they were. The name sounded like it might have been from Spanish origin, but apart from that, I had no other guesses. Due to their inexpensive price, I threw one in my basket. That's what I'm here for, right?

When I prepared to eat it this afternoon, I wasn't quite sure how to go about it. Based on the apple-like texture, I decided to just take a bite and see what happened. I quickly discovered that the taste was much like an apple, but closer to a sour green crab apple than a traditional red apple. Actually, it was really sour. My palate doesn't respond well to high degrees of sour, so I wasn't able to take more than a couple bites. The texture was much like a mushier, grainier apple, and the skin was thin enough to bite through easily.

I should also note that the inner flesh turned brown almost immediately after I took a bite. I've never seen any fruit oxidize that quickly, and I have no idea what would cause that. Still, it was pretty interesting to witness. It also had a hard, brown seed in the middle, which obviously is another similarity to the apple.

Apparently tecojotes are not apples, but a fruit that grows from a species of the hawthorne plant originally found in Mexico. The fruit is commonly used in "ponche," a hot fruit punch served during the Christmas holidays in Mexico. Interesting. I can't say I'd want to eat these again, but maybe they're better in "ponche" than eaten plain.