As a child, were you ever prohibited from eating a specific fruit? Might seem like a weird question, but I was! Meet the Limoncillo (also known as Spanish lime, genip, genipe, quenepa, mamoncillo, or honeyberry), the one fruit my parents did not allow me to eat unsupervised. Heck! Even supervised I was not allowed to eat it.
You might be wondering why and as you scroll down, you’ll realize it: the limoncillo has a huge pit that’s covered in sweet flesh. You need to carefully suck on it, not to hard or it’ll choke you and as a parent, it’s the last thing you want to experience. Having your kid choking on a pit the size of their esophagus. Not a good time, so my parents just said no limoncillos until I was old enough.
Well, I was old enough sometime during my tween years and when August rolled around, limoncillos were everywhere! The school I attended also had a limoncillo tree, making it a fun fruit to eat when the school year started.
To eat them, make sure to previously wash the fruit and break open with your front teeth. Remove the top skin and you’ll reveal the fleshy pit. You can either suck on the fruit, holding the fruit in your hand or remove the pit and suck it inside your mouth CAREFULLY. Don’t bite into it, because it’s a hard pit. Remove and repeat.
I’ve now consumed about 10 limoncillos trying to get a definite flavor to describe to you. It’s sweet, but it’s starchy in a way. Like a green banana? Be careful, it does stain clothes if it gets on it. It’s…incredibly hard to describe. It’s fun to eat though! Normally eaten fresh, it’s available in Latin American markets in the US during the season. I haven’t seen many, if any, preparations with this. Have you?
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| The dangerous pit! |
Interested in more Caribbean fruits? Check out my posts on Avocados, Guavas, Passion Fruit, and Mangoes! Have you ever tried Limoncillo? How would you describe the taste?
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I’ve had limoncello liqueur before-does that count??? I never knew there was a limoncello fruit-very cool! Love your pictures too! Definitely want to try and track these down in a Latin market. Thanks for sharing this Nelly!
I can tell you it tastes a little like lichees, have you tried those, what do you think? maybe its the same type of plant. You have just created a big need of eating some limoncillos now…madre mía so many years I dont eat some, and so far away of having some…
Thanks for the post!
I’ve never tried it, never heard of it, and frankly, I can’t even pronounce it. But I’m game to try anything…
These sound worth the work of eating them — carefully! I’m glad your commenter, Alan, (above) mentioned muscadines. A friend is bringing me some from Louisiana and I didn’t know they contained a large seed, so thanks in advance for educating me in your post and in the comments!
Interesting post! My mom didn’t let us eat hard candies. If it were up to her we still wouldn’t be!
I tried them in Puerto Rico a few times. LOVE THEM! They call them quenepas. They’re not that much work to eat.
I’ve heard of that lychee dessert, but never realized they were the same food.
I’ll have to check the markets for them, didn’t realize I could buy them in the USA.
heeehee i think they call it lychee in asia! there’s a dessert that they make (chinese) and it is topped on top of almond jello pudding! mmmmm so good!
Oh, wait! I forgot that avocados count as fruit. I adore avocados. Who knows, maybe I’d even like limoncillos if I ever get to try one.
Looks similar to a fruit I’ve had in Hawaii. Love the flavor and texture!
Looks good, but seems like a lot of work for a little reward, unless it’s REALLY awesome…lol It looks a little similiar to big muscadine grapes that are kind of fleshy like that with a big seed in the middle. It’s a ‘nervous eating’ type of snack…like a fruity version of sunflower seeds! 🙂 I’m gonna try to find some and see how they taste.