The mamey is a very popular fruit in Cuba and among displaced Cubans. Very hard to find outside of South Florida for us Cubans who live scattered all over the states.
Known as mamey sapote in Puerto Rico, and just plain mamey among Cubans, the football looking fruit is very temperamental to grow.
The fruit can be roundish or football shaped, depending on variety. The flesh is orange-red, tastes a bit like a combination of pumpkin, sweet potato and a dash of cinnamon. The texture can be smooth and creamy, although sometimes you can find some that are a bit stringy. The peel is rough and brown and the seed inside is large and shiny black.
In some places you can buy the flesh or pulp already frozen in plastic bags. It can be used for making smoothies, milkshakes and all kinds of desserts, including ice cream, cheesecakes and mousses.
Recently I found mamey at one of our local health food stores and had to buy one as it had been several years since I've eaten one. They had several and were grown locally... I must find out who has a tree!
A friend had just given us a jar of his deliciously tangy homemade goat cheese yogurt, so I decided to make a combination milkshake smoothie. To the blender half filled with the yogurt I added the diced pulp of the mamey and a bit of honey...not much, just enough that you could not taste the honey as a separate ingredient.
The resulting milkshake was creamy, thick and delicious.
