Find your ponche Navideño necessities here.
Three ingredients in a traditional Mexican Christmas punch are guava and sugar cane (relatively easy to find fresh in New York) and tejocotes (not). The crabapple-size tejocote (Tay-ho-Co-tay), also called the Mexican hawthorn, has firm-textured, juiceless flesh surrounding three to five seeds. The aroma hints at a sweetness that I never did taste; "sour plum" comes closer to the mark. They can be eaten out of hand, the proprietor counseled, but I understand why they're more often found in a well-sugared fruit punch.
Fresh tejocotes will disappear from New York by January, the proprietor added. Atlixco and other Mexican grocers do sell jarred tejocotes in syrup.
Also shown: two-for-a-dollar tamarind sweets. The point-of-purchase display offers many temptations, few or none under brand names you'll recognize.
Atlixco Deli Grocery
94-11 37th Ave. (at 94th St.), Jackson Heights, Queens
718-507-2539
www.ZocaloDeAtlixcoDeli.com
