Jocote

What it is

Jocote is Spondias purpurea, a relative of mango and cashew. The fruit is about 2.5–5 cm (1–2 in) long, often oval or pear-shaped, sometimes with a little knob at the tip. Yellow flesh clings to a large, rough stone; the skin is eaten too.

Varieties differ sharply. Even mature fruit can be green, yellow, orange, red or violet. Flesh ranges from chalky to juicy, and from sweet to sharply acidic.

Where it comes from

Jocote comes from the tropical dry forests of Mexico and Central America. People were already growing it from Mexico to northern South America when Europeans arrived. Spanish explorers carried it across the Pacific to the Philippines.

It is widely planted in the Caribbean and Bahamas, with occasional trees in southern Florida. In its Mesoamerican homeland, backyard gardens and living fences remain familiar places to grow it.

How it's eaten where it grows

In Guatemala, jocotes en miel are whole fruits simmered in a dark syrup of panela, unrefined cane sugar, with cinnamon and cloves. They are part of the November 1 All Saints Day table. Here, miel means syrup; the dessert contains no honey.

Mexico puts tart, unripe jocotes into green sauces or pickles them in vinegar with salt and chilli. Ripe fruit makes agua de ciruela: pulp strained away from the stones, mixed with water and sugar, and served over ice.

How it's grown

The small tree has thick, brittle branches and sheds its leaves. Tiny red or purple flowers appear along the branches before the new leaves emerge. It grows in soils ranging from sand to heavy clay, but cold damages it.

Growers reproduce a tree from large branch cuttings. Set upright in the ground, those pieces take root and become new fruit trees.

When and where you'll find it

In Mexico, jocote is usually in season from May into early July. In the US, Latin groceries are a route to whole frozen fruit, often labelled jocote or ciruela. CremiMex, a Hispanic-food supplier, lists Frusecha’s Jocote Corona, grown in Central America and frozen whole. For agua fresca, frozen fruit thaws for 30–45 minutes first.