Topetope

I know that I write about food a lot, but it is one of the best aspects of living in a new place. Whether it’s restaurants or new food altogether, I love putting it in my belly! One afternoon, Jon came home with a peculiar looking fruit to try. I’d never seen anything like it before. It’s  called topetope (toe-pay, toe-pay) in Swahili. As you can see from the picture, the outside is a greenish color and when it’s ripe it’s soft. Some appear bumpy from the outside. You dig into the skin and start pulling away the skin to reveal the sweet, white fruit on the inside. The fruit is basically pod-like. You put a pod into your mouth, eat away the fruit and spit out the black seed inside each pod. It’s by far, my favorite fruit that I have tried here. Apparently, in English, topetope is called Custard Apple. I can see how one might make the analogy of it being custard-like, but I am not quite sure I agree with the “apple” part of the translation. If you can find this unique fruit, I highly encourage you to try it!