dining

Rose apples

by Eric Jackson

It's a misnomer whether you want to call it by its American or Panamanian name. As gringos put it, the rose apple is neither a rose nor an apple. The local Spanish word from the fruit, marañon de curazao, means "Curaçao cashew" but it's neither a cashew nor did it originate on or near that Caribbean island. The rose apple, a perishable reddish or purplish fruit with a delicate white to beige flesh that may be crunchy when first picked but becomes just slightly rubbery within a few hours, originated in tropical Asia and was imported to Jamaica by the British, then to other parts of the Caribbean and to low-lying areas of the warmer latitudes of the American mainland. They grow them in Florida and California and down to northern South America now, but because they are so delicate and perishable they are not a major player in the era of mechanized, globalized, refrigerated long-distance agribusiness.

This is a good time to find rose apples in fruit vendors' stalls here in Panama.

Usually you want to eat rose apples fresh. The only way that you can really put them up is to candy them or make jelly with them, going heavy on the pectin or lime juice to make the latter set. They just don't have much taste when canned by themselves but work as part of a fruit cocktail with stronger-flavored ingredients. Your food dehydrator give you any dried rose apples that you'll much care for.

However, if you want to cook rose apples for dessert, remove the seeds, stems and fuzzy stuff that comes around the seed and extends up to the stem from them, slice the fleshy part of the fruit into thin strips, and sauté them lightly in a pan whose bottom is covered in honey over low heat for a few minutes, turning the slices once. Turn the heat off and squeeze the juice of a lime over them. Arrange the slices creatively on a plate, pouring the rest of the honey and lime juice mixture on top and if you want, garnish your dessert with a sprinkling of crushed roasted nuts (cashews or almonds, if you care to stay locally produced Panamanian with this creation).