I love unusual fruit. Atemóia has to be one of the strangest. It looks like a greenish pinecone or perhaps similar to Deep Roy’s character’s profile in the 2009 Star Trek movie. Sort of bumpy and ridged and not at all inviting. That’s got to be part of its charm.
atemóia AKA atemoya
Wikipedia says the fruit is a hybrid between cherimoya and hazelnut custard apple. I’ve seen cherimoya before. They look similar to one another.
Hegui found our atemoya at a fruit and vegetable market in Jundiaí, Brazil, though I’ve seen them here. Just the other day at 22 and Irving Market, we chanced upon a whole box. Or could those have been cherimoya?
The outer layer is rough and inedible. The flesh of the fruit is a shocking white color dotted with black seeds (our pic doesn’t really dramatize the color contrast properly). It has a nutty, mellow, creamy, mildly sweet flavor. We loved it.
atemóia interior
atemóia for sale at a Brazilian fruit stand
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I had the sweetest of these in Beirut this past summer; man, talk about eating this and being in heaven!
we call this guyabano in the Philippines, delicious and refreshing, this makes a wonderful smoothie or shake which is how it is commonly served, but eating it fresh is best, i think!