mizchef

posted by admin on Jul 10

Hi, gang. First, I want to remind anyone in the Staten Island area that I’ll be doing a cooking demonstration on Saturday, July 17, in front of Bent Pages bookstore, at 391 Van Duzer St. July is Van Duzer Days, a month’s worth of weekend street fairs! Woohoo! Anyway, I’ll be there around 2:00, cooking up some yummies. Come taste some samples, and, if you feel like it, you can pick up a copy of my book, What, No Meat?

Now, here’s the main show: Mamey.

I’ve never had a mamey. There are two reasons for this:

1)      They’re very hard to find. You definitely won’t find them outside of a Latin/Hispanic (or, occasionally, Asian) market, but even then, there’s no guarantee you’ll find them. The markets in my neighborhood cater to a Latin community and they still don’t carry them.

2)      They’re expensive.

The mamey (pronounced mah-mee, like “mommy”) for me has been one of those elusive things that I always knew I’d pounce on if I was every lucky enough to spot it. (And mangosteens. But that’s another discussion.) My interest was especially piqued when I saw celebrity chef Daisy Martinez use them on her TV show, Daisy Cooks.

While frozen mamey pulp has been available, fresh mamey has been notoriously difficult to find. I haven’t been able to find out why. (Although I read somewhere that U.S. government tight-asses screamed like little girls when they found out that the mamey pit is considered to be some sort of narcotic or toxin or something. Pansies.) But, happily, the era of mamey embargo seems to be coming to an end.

Eureka!

I just started a job in April. I have a really long-ass commute and I hate it, particularly since I commuted from Brooklyn to Jersey City for almost 15 years (bear with me, there’s a point to this). I’m really over long-haul commutes. But one good thing about where I now work is that it’s smack in the middle of a thriving Latin community, comprising numerous Central and South American cultures, and markets abound to cater to them. For a foodie like me, it’s paradise having access to multicultural ingredients like that.

When I first started this job, I went exploring in the neighborhood and fell in love with one particular market, which had not only ingredients essential to Latin cuisine but excellent prices as well. It was there that I spotted the elusive mamey sapote, and my eyes bugged out. Unfortunately, I was pretty broke at the time and simply couldn’t afford the hefty price of $5.99 a pound. And because mameys are heavy fruits, and these were pretty big specimens, I knew I’d be looking a nice amount of money. I continued seeing them there, but they started to look not-so-fresh. With each passing week, they looked worse and worse. Then, yesterday, I went to get myself a mango and some bananas and, lo! A fresh batch of mameys! Some small ones, too. And I had money in my pocket. (Still, at $5.99/lb., and with my other purchases, I blew my whole wad!)

But What Is a Mamey?

Mamey, also called sapote or pouteria, comes from the mamey sapote tree. Its skin is brown and somewhat rough and slightly bumpy, but its flesh is orange, creamy, and sweet. It’s reminiscent of papaya in both color and flavor. The flavor, however, has a potato-y edge, and, in fact, it has been likened to sweet potato, which I concur. The texture is smooth, but with a subtle graininess to it, lending to it potato-iness (I just made that up). Some people have said that it reminds them of sweet potatoe pie and pumpkin pie. Someone even said it reminds them of vanilla ice cream with a little pumpkin added. I don’t know about that last one, but can see the pumpkin analogy.

Photo by Fibonacci

Mamey is eaten raw, but is also very popular in smoothies and shakes, as well as ice cream and in baked goods. If you’re lucky enough to spot them, look for fruit that is smooth and unblemished. By that, I mean there shouldn’t be any soft/mushy dents, mold or discolored parts. And it should not be confused with a mammee apple, which is similar looking but is not the same thing. However, I don’t think you’ll have this problem―as hard as it is to find mameys, it’s probably twice as hard to find mammee apples (picture here).

A ripe mamey yields a bit when you press into it. I think mine was half ripe. Half of it was soft, while the other half was as hard as rock. It has an interesting pit in the center―oblong and smooth, and its shape rather reminded me of a closed mussel shell. It’s actually quite pretty. But it’s useful, too. The seeds have been used to make insecticide and treatments for parasitic skin diseases.

I Like My Fruit to Do Double Time

Okay, that’s cool. Because mameys, like so many other fruits, do other things for you besides make you go, mmmm. It’s high in vitamins A and C and potassium, and is an excellent source of dietary fiber and calcium. It’s been used for stomach ailments, headaches, venereal disease, and as an antiseptic.

So, here’s the good news: Because so many Latin Americans use mamey in their cuisine, the demand for it is heralding a wide-spread introduction to mameys, and it’s very possible that mameys might be coming to a store near YOU!

And because I like to be optimistic about these things, I’m giving you a few mamey recipes to try out. I made a batido (milkshake) with mine. I used soymilk and it came out yummy. I topped it off with a tropical drink umbrella to make it more festive. (Okay, so I keep little drink umbrellas around. So?)

Keep in mind that you can use frozen mamey pulp for these recipes instead of fresh, so look for it in Latin markets and well-stocked supermarkets. Let me know what you think. Until then, happy summer, happy Van Duzer Days, and ENJOY!

Frozen Mamey Sapote Mousse

1 cup mamey pulp
¾ cup sugar
1 envelope gelatin
½ cup cold water
½ cup boiling water
2 cups heavy cream
½ tsp salt

Rub fruit through a sieve or put through a food mill to remove any fiber. Mix sugar and salt with fruit pulp. Soak gelatin in cold water, then dissolve in the boiling water. Blend with fruit mixture. Chill until mixture thickens, then whip until light. Whip the heavy cream until stiff and fold into mamey mixture. Freeze.

Recipe courtesy of Virtual Herbarium

Mamey Muffins

Yield: 24 mini muffins

2 Florida eggs
1 1/4 cups Florida sugar
2 cups mamey, peeled, seeded and pureed
1 1/2 cup Florida milk
1 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ginger
1/4 cup Florida pecans, chopped
1/4 cup butter, softened
1/4 cup brown sugar

Beat together eggs and sugar. Add mamey and milk. Mix together flour, soda and spices and add to mamey mixture.

In a separate bowl, mix together pecans, butter and sugar. Drop mamey batter into greased mini muffin tins and top each with a teaspoon of pecan mixture.

Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 20 minutes or until done.

Recipe courtesy of the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services

Batido de Mamey

Cuban Milk Shakes

1 cup whole milk
3 tablespoons sweetened condensed milk
3 tablespoons sugar (to taste)
1 cup fresh ripe mamey cubed (You may subsitute frozen mamey pulp, available in many Latin markets.)
1/2 cup crushed ice

Put everything in the blender except the ice and process until frothy. Add the crushed ice and process until the ice is ground fine and the batido is thick and rich. NOTE: The condensed milk is a very Cuban addition. You may omit this ingredient to your taste.

Recipe courtesy of Three Guys from Cuba