Jiotilla

What it is

The round fruit is about 3–5 cm (1¼–2 in) across, with purple-brown skin and yellow, papery scales. Its juicy, fibrous pulp is purple or dark red, dotted with many tiny seeds.

Jiotilla, chiotilla and quiotilla are spellings of the same fruit. Its botanical name is Escontria chiotilla, and it grows on a columnar cactus three to four metres (10–13 ft) tall, with many ribbed branches.

Where it comes from

Jiotilla belongs to Mexico's dry country, growing naturally in Puebla, Oaxaca, Guerrero and Michoacán. In Oaxaca's Mixteca region, people have eaten it for generations. Much of the crop is still gathered from wild cactus stands, and collecting fruit often goes alongside tending goats.

How it's eaten where it grows

In Oaxaca, jiotilla goes into nieves, the region's frozen ices, as well as milk puddings and almond-and-jiotilla cake. It also turns horchata pink. In Cuicatlán, Quiotepec and Coxcatlán, in the Tehuacán Valley, the fruit becomes colonche, a fermented cactus-fruit drink.

Jiotilla can finish a more elaborate dessert too. Rodolfo Castellanos' Merengue del Valle at Origen in Oaxaca pairs its purée with sponge cake, pineapple, coconut, burnt-milk ice cream and meringue.

How it's grown

A short trunk supports a branching cactus, with the fruit forming near the ends of its ribbed stems. Flowering and ripening happen in waves: buds, flowers and developing fruits can share a plant, and fruit at different stages can occupy the same branch.

Gatherers pick ripe jiotillas from these stands. The fruit does not continue ripening after picking.

When and where you'll find it

Jiotilla is usually a summer fruit in the Mixteca. Near the growing areas, women sell fresh fruit in baskets outside traditional markets. It is also an ingredient for local ice makers: Nieves y Helados Manuelitos, the Anzures family's business from San Pedro y San Pablo Tequixtepec, makes jiotilla among its cactus-fruit flavours.