CUSTARD APPLE: SO UGLY, IT’S BEAUTIFUL.

Hey, custard apple! The horror movies called and they want their scary face back.

But you don’t scare me. Not your tough, leathery skin, nor your glossy, inedible seeds. Not even the fact that your smooth, white lobes of flesh inside look just like fish.

Because I know how deliciously creamy and sweet you are. You’re as tropical as a pina colada, as fragrant as a vanilla bean, and as smooth and silken as custard.

So in the interests of getting you a few more friends, I’m doing an intervention, and passing on seven good things about you.

1/ Custard apples are great in winter, when so few other fruits are great. We have custard apple farmers (Orchardists? They do grow on trees, after all) down the east coast of Australia, from tropical Northern Queensland to sub-tropical Northern New South Wales.

2/ It’s easy to spot when they are ripe and ready to eat. The fruit will give in the hand, and the knobbly skin will be spockled with dark age spots. If you buy one that is too firm, leave it out on the bench. If it’s already soft, store it in the crisper.

3/ They look intimidating, but they’re not.  DO NOT ATTEMPT TO PEEL A CUSTARD APPLE. THAT IS JUST WRONG. All you have to do is cut it in half, and use a teaspoon to scoop out the fruit. Ambitious people say you can massage the big black glossy seeds away from the flesh with your fingers, but it’s easier just to accept that seeds are a part of life, and serve the flesh with seeds intact.

4/ A custard apple seed-spitting contest is the most fun thing you can do at breakfast. Whoever gets the most seeds wins a prize.

5/ They’re more expensive than a banana, but cheaper than a pomelo, costing anywhere from $2.50 for a small one to $7.50 for a very big one. They are also an excellent source of vitamin C, and therefore very good for your immune system.

6/ Custard apples are perfect just as they are, but can be quite lovely as a sorbet or ice-cream (with coconut milk and lime juice) or folded through an Asian salad. I don’t think they lend themselves to being heated, however.

7/ Custard apples are also called sweetsops, so now you know what a sweetsop is, which has been worrying you for years. Similar varieties are called cherimoya, sitaphal and atemoya. One day, half way through a crossword, you will thank me for this.

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Thanks for reading (and liking, commenting, subscribing, knock yourself out). Copyright © 2020 Jill Dupleix. I live and work on the lands of the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation, and pay my respect to elders past, present and emerging.