The Wild ‘Dilly’ (Mimusops Siebert) is a delicious, berry-like little fruit very much liked. The Mammee Sapota or Lucuma inammosa, has rather unusual fruit which much varies in size—from that of a muskmelon down to that of a goose-egg—and the bright, reddish pulp, which has been compared to both pumpkin- pie and to muskmelon, is eaten uncooked, just as it is. It contains from one to three long seeds. The White Sapota (Casimiroa edulis) is about the size of a peach and resembles it somewhat in flavour. The Star Apple (Chrysophyllum catnito) varies in colour with variety, (being purple or green), described by Kingsley as ‘‘an evergreen peach, shedding from the under side of every leaf a golden light—call it not shade.’ It is larger, however, more like an apple in form and smoothness of skin. Its star-shaped core contains numerous brown seeds, rather large and flat. The flavour is somewhat peculiar, 395 306 FRUIT RECIPES but the apple may be varied in preparation. Its pulp mixed with orange juice is in Jamaica called “‘ Matrimony.” The Cocoa Plum (Chrysobolanus icaco), with its pink and white fruit, was so named because the seeds were thought to resemble the cocoanut in form and the fruit the common plum. The egg Fruit (Lucuma rivicoa), called in Key West “Ti-ess” or “Ti-es,”’ is like a small Mammee Sapota and considered equally delicious. .- CHAPTER XXXI SIX OF THE MORE FAMILIAR TROPICAL AND SEMI-TROPICAL FRUITS HE mango (Mangifera Indica) is one of the most delicious and one of the most maligned of tropical fruits, this state of affairs arising because of the unpleasant fibrous nature of several varieties and the unmistakable turpentine flavour of some of them which have unfortun- ‘ately been put upon the market stringy and unripe. The best mangoes are almost as delicate as perfect pineapples and contain much food value. Not only is this fruit sus- ceptible of being cooked in numerous ways and eaten fresh, made into wine and various preserves, but starch and glucose are manufactured from the mango and when ani- mals of the lower world are given it as a staple food they flourish. The fruit is truly exceedingly juicy and it is sometimes said that it should be eaten only in one’s bath- , tub, in consequence, but where the mango grows in the greatest luxuriance and it is properly understood and used one may procure the regular mango-fork, a three pronged affair of which the middle prong is long and projecting, to be so imbedded that the fruit will not slip. Otherwise, the mango may be sliced before serving with wine, sugar and nutmeg. It may also be simply stewed. Before maturity it may be pickled or preserved, as well as at later stages. The kernels of the seeds are sometimes roasted and eaten like chestnuts. The Tropical Papaw (Carica papaya) is a very interest- ing and valuable tree as well as fruit. The form of the 3°7 308 FRUIT RECIPES _ tree is more nearly that of a palm than anything else and the leaves resemble those of both the castor bean and fig, being curiously cut, large and graceful. They have a singular and valuable power in their action upon meat fibre in which quality the rind of the papaw shares: When the rind is rubbed over the toughest meat or the meat is wrapped for a few hours in the leaves the offending tough- ness entirely disappears. The fruit juice has remarkable stomachic qualities and Joseph Jefferson was a noted ex- ample of the claim that the tropical papaw is a cure for dyspepsia. In form the fruit is rather a cross between the banana and the muskmelon. It may be prepared for cookery, like the coarser vegetables of northern climates, before it quite reaches maturity; eaten uncooked, it must be thoroughly ripened to be acceptable to the palate. (This fruit is not in the least related to the Northern papaw.)

AI-modernized reading of the original text

The Wild ‘Dilly’ (Mimusops Siebert) is a delicious, berry-like little fruit very much liked. The Mammee Sapota or Lucuma inammosa, has rather unusual fruit which much varies in size—from that of a muskmelon down to that of a goose-egg—and the bright, reddish pulp, which has been compared to both pumpkin pie and to muskmelon, is eaten uncooked, just as it is. It contains from one to three long seeds. The White Sapota (Casimiroa edulis) is about the size of a peach and resembles it somewhat in flavour. The Star Apple (Chrysophyllum catnito) varies in colour with variety, (being purple or green), described by Kingsley as ‘‘an evergreen peach, shedding from the under side of every leaf a golden light—call it not shade.’ It is larger, however, more like an apple in form and smoothness of skin. Its star-shaped core contains numerous brown seeds, rather large and flat. The flavour is somewhat peculiar, but the apple may be varied in preparation. Its pulp mixed with orange juice is in Jamaica called “‘ Matrimony.” The Cocoa Plum (Chrysobolanus icaco), with its pink and white fruit, was so named because the seeds were thought to resemble the cocoanut in form and the fruit the common plum. The egg Fruit (Lucuma rivicoa), called in Key West “Ti-ess” or “Ti-es,”’ is like a small Mammee Sapota and considered equally delicious. .- CHAPTER XXXI SIX OF THE MORE FAMILIAR TROPICAL AND SEMI-TROPICAL FRUITS HE mango (Mangifera Indica) is one of the most delicious and one of the most maligned of tropical fruits, this state of affairs arising because of the unpleasant fibrous nature of several varieties and the unmistakable turpentine flavour of some of them which have unfortun- ‘ately been put upon the market stringy and unripe. The best mangoes are almost as delicate as perfect pineapples and contain much food value. Not only is this fruit susceptible of being cooked in numerous ways and eaten fresh, made into wine and various preserves, but starch and glucose are manufactured from the mango and when animals of the lower world are given it as a staple food they flourish. The fruit is truly exceedingly juicy and it is sometimes said that it should be eaten only in one’s bath- , tub, in consequence, but where the mango grows in the greatest luxuriance and it is properly understood and used one may procure the regular mango-fork, a three pronged affair of which the middle prong is long and projecting, to be so imbedded that the fruit will not slip. Otherwise, the mango may be sliced before serving with wine, sugar and nutmeg. It may also be simply stewed. Before maturity it may be pickled or preserved, as well as at later stages. The kernels of the seeds are sometimes roasted and eaten like chestnuts. The Tropical Papaw (Carica papaya) is a very interesting and valuable tree as well as fruit. The form of the 3°7 _ tree is more nearly that of a palm than anything else and the leaves resemble those of both the castor bean and fig, being curiously cut, large and graceful. They have a singular and valuable power in their action upon meat fibre in which quality the rind of the papaw shares: When the rind is rubbed over the toughest meat or the meat is wrapped for a few hours in the leaves the offending toughness entirely disappears. The fruit juice has remarkable stomachic qualities and Joseph Jefferson was a noted example of the claim that the tropical papaw is a cure for dyspepsia. In form the fruit is rather a cross between the banana and the muskmelon. It may be prepared for cookery, like the coarser vegetables of northern climates, before it quite reaches maturity; eaten uncooked, it must be thoroughly ripened to be acceptable to the palate. (This fruit is not in the least related to the Northern papaw.)

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