If You Like Custard, This Fruit’s for You

Not all research and development work in San Diego County is being done in science labs along the coast: The back hills of North County have become a laboratory for growing exotic fruits that have attracted interest from growers around the world.

A number of exotic fruit orchards, originally planted as experiments, have gradually been transformed into successful commercial enterprises.

For instance, of the 15 strains of white sapote, or custard apple, which is recognized by the California Rare Fruit Growers, most were developed in the San Diego area--seven of them in North County. The Chestnut sapote and the Vernon hail from Vista, the Cuccio from Fallbrook, Mac’s golden from Carlsbad, the lemon gold from Escondido and the Suebelle and the Ecke from Encinitas. Each variety boasts its own flavor characteristics.

The white sapote, a distant relative of the citrus family, originated in the highlands of Mexico and first appeared in California in the early 1800s.

The white sapote (pronounced: sah-po-tay) bears little in common with the black sapote, a tropical fruit with the color and consistency of chocolate pudding (carried locally in some nurseries) or with a number of other tropical varieties unavailable in the United States.

Due to the efforts of growers such as Bob Chambers, the white is gaining greater popularity among American consumers. He has more than 40 varieties of sapotes planted on several acres of hillside in Fallbrook.

Chambers first envisioned the white sapote’s commercial possibilities in 1975, when the fruit was still found mainly in ethnic markets. Chambers and his wife, Clytia, the editor of the Fruit Gardener, the California Rare Fruit Grower publication, commute regularly from their home in Studio City to oversee the progress of their grove.

Yields of 500 pounds per tree are not uncommon. Some trees bear fruit year-round, others are harvested seasonally. Chambers maintains a detailed map of the location of all the trees on his property, which is followed faithfully during picking season. He markets his organically grown fruit through Rainbow Valley Orchards, a cooperative managed by Rich Hart.

Sampling sapotes is like tasting an array of sweet custards, each with its own particular flavor: The golden globe, a favorite with both Hart and Chambers, “ships well and looks good,” says Hart. The yellow-fleshed lemon gold, offers a hint of lemon and mint, as well as an edible skin. The Michele, a good back-yard variety, paints the palate with a trace of caramel.

The Suebelle is the variety grower Les Meyer takes to market. “It’s got a custardy texture, tasting of vanilla and banana pudding, and has a very sweet flavor,” he says, adding that the fruit is best when left to ripen at room temperature and turns as soft as a ripe peach. Meyer likes to give out samples to introduce his customers to the delicate taste of the Suebelle.

Chamber’s biggest seller, the Cuccio, remains green even when ripe, and is best eaten free of its bitter skin. Stopping under the leafy branches of a Stickley, Rich Hart gently twists a ripe fruit off the tree and points out its unique characteristic: “Stickleys have a bellybutton on the side,” he says, sampling a slice of the juicy sapote. This lightly indented fruit is easy to differentiate from the yellow-green Chestnut sapote, for instance, which is rounder.

Some sapote trees are grown from seed, but grafting is the method preferred by many growers. It takes seven to eight years for a seedling to grow to the fruit-bearing stage, but grafted trees will often bear after two years.

The mother tree for the Chestnut variety shades Osborne Cox’s front yard in Vista. It is here that the strain originated, from a tree that grew from a Suebelle seed.

Although Suebelles bear year-round, the Chestnut (named for Wesley C. Chestnut, the original owner) bears only in early fall. “But it’s a totally different tree,” explains Cox, who theorizes that it must have first sprouted in the late ‘40s. “Seeds don’t provide a true replica of a tree. There’s only one chance in 50,000 that a tree grown from seed will bear any fruit of value.”

Cox’s Chestnut sapote has attained almost legendary status, with regular harvests of more than 2 tons a year. “It was already huge when we moved in here in 1967,” he says of the tree with its 2 1/2-foot-wide trunk.

In season, fruit averaging half a pound apiece hang in pastel-green clusters from the 40-foot-high limbs.

Purists prefer to eat tree-ripened sapotes out of hand or to scoop out the flesh with a spoon. The fruit “freezes beautifully” and tastes a little like frozen custard when eaten that way, according to Bob Chambers and Osborne Cox. Sapotes also work well in blender drinks and smoothies.

Some aficionados take advantage of the fruit’s high sugar content to make wine. The best temperature for ripening is between 50 and 60 degrees. Sapotes are a good source of Vitamin C.

Rich Hart, general partner and manager of Rainbow Valley Orchards and executive director of the Cooperative of Certified Organic Growers. 5115 5th St., Rainbow, CA 92028. (619) 728-2905. Call for price and availability. At organic markets and wholesale.

Les Meyers. Meyers Family Farms. (619) 728-5694. Sells only through Vista and Del Mar farmer’s markets. Small sapotes, 8 for $1. Large sapotes 3 for $1.

Osborne Cox, (619) 724-5114. Wholesale only. Call for price and availability.

The Fruit Gardener, publication of the California Rare Fruit Growers Inc., Fullerton Arboretum, Cal State Fullerton, Fullerton, CA 92634.