Annona cherimoya from Madeira Island

The Anona fruit (the tree is called Annona cherimola) is a member of the Magnolialesorder

cherimoya (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

of plants; it grows mainly in the Andes, in the Philippines and the South of California. In Mexico it is known to have been cultivated for more than 2000 years. The tree needs a temperature of 28° but can grow in high altitudes. It also grows nicely on Madeira Island, one of the few European areas to cultivate this winter fruit. It needs to be free of frost but the Andean farmers say that it likes to see the snow from afar. Can do – we have a bit of snow for maybe 3-5 days on the top mountains in January.

Anona, as we call it – the Portuguese don`t like double letters – can grow as big as a baby’s head and is easily shipped when hard. Once it ripens and gets soft to the touch, just cut it in half and eat the creamy white flesh, spitting out the few black seeds as you go. It has a nice taste, some say, between pineapple and banana.

Mark Twain tasted the fruit once and called it “the most delicious fruit known to men”. He should have come to Madeira, we have it aplenty in the winter.

Want some? Talk to us.