Jocote

Spondias purpurea · Tropical fruit

40 pairings

The jocote (Spondias purpurea), also called red mombin, purple mombin, hog plum or ciruela, is a small tart-sweet drupe from a tree in the cashew family (Anacardiaceae), native to tropical Mesoamerica and the Caribbean. Eaten green and crunchy with salt and chili, or ripe and soft when it turns yellow to deep red, it is one of the most popular roadside and market fruits of Central America.

Picking a good onedrag

UnderripeOverripe

Breaking colourAcid easing and the colour coming up, flesh still firm. Sweet enough to eat plain, sour enough to still take salt and chilli well.Middle ground

SkinGreen breaking to yellow or orange

SqueezeFirm, the faintest give at the shoulders

Stem endStalk dry, or a clean pale scar

SmellFaint sweetness coming up under the green

Reading a just ripe one. Move the slider and the rest of this page — nutrition, pairings — re-scores with it.

Preparing