Summer Fruit - Hog Plumbs - Part Five

This is my last entry on summer fruit. Perhaps I have saved the best for last. But didn't I say sugar apples and guavas were my favorite? I wasn't lying

...but...

hog plums are my favorite fruit is too. About the size of a grape tomato, they have a large seed inside. There isn’t a lot of meat, but when you pop one in your mouth and break the skin they burst open with a surprising amount of wonderful sweet citrusy juice. The skin in edible, but doesn’t have much flavor and so I don’t usually eat it.

Hog plums are native to the Caribbean Basin, but I don’t know if they are indigenous to the Virgin Islands or if they were brought here by the Taino Indians. Like mangoes, they are part of the Sumac family which includes mango, pistachio, cashew, and poison ivy. If one is allergic to mangoes, one might be allergic to hog plums, which is too bad because they are so flavorful. On the other hand that just leaves more for me.

I love their color. Eye candy for an artist.


Here’s what one looks like after it’s been eaten (by me of course.)

See the juice? Hmm, hmmm good.