Velvet apple

Diospyros blancoi · Fruit

40 pairings

The velvet apple, or mabolo, is the apple-sized fruit of a tropical persimmon tree (Diospyros blancoi) native to the Philippines. Its skin is covered in a fine, fuzzy, brownish-red to bright pinkish-red down like peach fuzz, and the pale, creamy, slightly dry flesh carries a notoriously strong, cheese- or sour-milk-like aroma that draws comparisons to overripe fruit.

Picking a good onedrag

UnderripeOverripe

Colour turningOrange breaking through the green, a first give at the shoulder. Close, but the astringency has not let go yet. Leave it out and let it finish.A few days more

Skin colourOrange coming up through the green at the shoulders

GiveA little give at the shoulder, firm everywhere else

SmellThe cheesy note arriving, creamy and still mild behind it

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

Preparing