An unripe zapote negro (sah-Poe-tay Nay-grow, or black sapote) resembles a large, firm green tomato. It is inedible until the skin turns a wrinkled, mottled olive green and the underlying flesh seems almost too soft to handle. At another display, to improve a photo, I gently repositioned a specimen in its prime but found that it had left a little stain underneath. I slid it back.
When carefully transported home and then sliced open, a ripe zapote negro (11 pesos, at 40 pesos per kilogram, or about 55 cents at the time) reveals very dark brown flesh with a smooth consistency interrupted only by a handful of flat smooth seeds and a minor amount of pulpy matter. The nickname "chocolate pudding fruit" is apt, though mine suggested a no-sugar-added pudding. Lime juice, orange juice, and milk all reportedly complement the flavor. As I later discovered, zapote negro is made into a popular Mexican nieve, too.
Fruteria Loma Bonita
+52 55 5554 5164
Mercado de Coyoacán, stalls 73 and 98
Ignacio Allende, Del Carmen, Coyoacán, Mexico City
www.CentroDeCoyoacan.mx/que-hacer/mercados-artesanias/Mercado-de-Coyoacan
