Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1888-08-09
PECULIAR FRUIT.

The Guanavana, or Sour Sop-Tbe Nancy do
San Domingo.
Recently the people of Orlando have
been RECALLING with some of the strange
tropical fruits of the West Indies. saws q
Florida paper.
With the mango and nancy zapote we
are already becoming familiar, but the
sapidillo, the guanavan, and the manev
de San Domingo were strangers to us
until the other day. The two last named
fruits will certainly take the premium
for grotesque appearance and oddity of
flavor.
The guanavans, or sour sop (Anona
nuricata), is huge, soft, shapeless fruit,
sometimes formed like g think curved
horn, of dirty greenish-brown color,
with rough skin that bears striking
resemblance to an alljgator's hide. It is
quite soft when ripe, and easily cut open.
words fail to describe the musky, rich
odor that rises from the sour sop when it
Is opened. Many people can not endure
1t, but perhaps that is because it is so
utterly foreign to anything they ever
saw before, and they are naturally sus-
plcious of it anyway. The flavor is some
thing like that of mandrake, or May
apple, with dash of paw
paw and "May sop" thrown in,
together with little musk.
1t is decidedly original and
interesting fruit, and is sure
to make enemies or friends at first sight.
Each seed, Of which there are hundred or
more, is inoased i'll white cottory flap
or pulp, and in order to eat it you must
pull out each separate flap, which is about
an inch long. and suck the Juice, and
then throw away the ibrous envelope
around the seed. But it is not designed
to be eaten, but drank. That's, the puIp is
made into beverage by adding ice
water and sugar to it in pitcher, as one
would make lemonade. One good sized
guanavana will make enough drink for a
dozen men, and il is said to be a sure
preventive against sunsJroke and over
heating. great Inany people who test
ed the flavor were enthusiastic over it,
while others were disguised at the
strange, creamy odor of the fruit in it
The guanavana tree is so purely tropical
and tender fruit that it is doubtful if it.
will ever succeed here, mild as our winters
are. Even a crisp, cold wind will some
time wither the leaves, although it may
be several degrees above the freezing
point. Many of the seeds have already
been planted here, however, and they will
be given trial.
Another fruit which is Almost an entire
stranger here is the Nancy de San
Domingo. Like the guanavana. its ap-
pearance is greatly against it, and it re-
sembles nothing so much as great big,
round, sun-bUrned sweet potato. But
peel of the thick outer skin, and the feshy
orange-colored pulp COMES to view, and
you catch g faint, fruity odor of pine
apples and peaches. The great, woody
seed takes up so much space that there is
not much meat about this fruit. The
flesh resembles that of pumpkin, but
the favor is an odd mixture of pineap-
Piles. peaches, russell apples, and sweet
potatoes. The rest is all Nancy, and it
is not bad eating at all. The Cubans
say it must be soaked for some time in
salt water tefore eating. The Nancy de
San Domingo must not be COMPOUNDED
with the Nancy zapote, which is soft and
sirupy in its consistency. The mameys
will grow in south Florida with protec
tion, and are no tenderer than guavas or
mango trees.