Zapote — Custard Apple's Cousin, Handled Like an Avocado

Zapote (white sapote) is a genuine oddity botanically — a relative of citrus that tastes nothing like one. Underneath thin, smooth, green-to-gold skin sits creamy, custard-like flesh with a flavour most people describe as somewhere between banana, peach, and vanilla, occasionally with a caramel note. The texture is close to a ripe avocado, and so is the ripening process: it may arrive a touch firm and needs a few days at room temperature, ready when the flesh gives gently to pressure and the stem comes away easily. Inside are a few large, inedible seeds that separate cleanly from the flesh once ripe.