Mamey  Mammea americana    Mammee Apple, St. Domingo apricot and South American apricot

The mamey is native to the West Indies and northern South America. It was recorded as growing near Darién, Panama, in 1514, and in 1529 was included by Oviedo in his review of the fruits of the New World.

Mamey is the brown fruit of a fair-size tropical-American tree Calocarpum sapota, of the sapodilla family. This fruit may actually be as good as Sapodilla, and it has the right to be so, since it belongs to the same family. Its soft, sugary flesh is dark brown to reddish, and melts in the mouth. The Mamey looks something like an Irish potato and has a single large, dark-brown pit inside, and tastes like a succulent  pastry.

Ripeness may be indicated by a slight yellowing of the skin or, if this is not apparent, one can scratch the surface very lightly with a fingernail. If green beneath, the fruit should not be picked, but, if yellow, it is fully mature. The ripe flesh is appetizingly fragrant and, in the best varieties, pleasantly sub-acidic, resembling the apricot or red raspberry in flavor. Fruits of poor quality may be too sour or mawkishly sweet. Small fruits are usually single-seeded; larger fruits may have 2, 3 or 4 seeds.

Preparation  To facilitate peeling, the skin is scored from the stem to the apex and removed in strips. The rag must be thoroughly scraped from the flesh which is then cut off in slices, leaving any part which may adhere to the seed, and trimming off any particles of seed-covering from the roughened inner surface of the flesh.