Cherimoya - a sublime fruit

You know how it is after a few glasses of Spanish wine and some tapas. Conversations can become a little surreal. Last night with friends the topic turned to oranges, lemons and - a big favourite of mine - the fruit from the Cherimoya tree. Friends bemoaned that they couldn't find it anywhere in England and they came up with an idea. That we should hire a van and, this autumn, ship thousands to the UK.

One problem. As prolific culinary author Luis Benavides Barajas told us: "The only problem with the chirimoya is that you have to eat it the moment it has ripened. They do not keep in their best, tastiest condition for long. That is why on the Costa Tropical in Spain, where they grow in large numbers, October sees restaurants, bars and home kitchens awash with chirimoyas. Timing in picking them is everything and you have to eat them quickly before they go off."

So cancel that hired van! The chirimoya fruit comes from the cherimoya tree. It is so popular in some parts of the world that it has a song named after it. The chirimoya is one member of a very large family of tropical fruits called the Annonaceae. It grows most in countries such as Peru, Ecuador, Chile and Columbia.

Famous Spanish chef and author Luis told me more: "It is a very delicate fruit. Remove the seeds and use a spoon to eat what is commonly known as a custard apple. Along the Costa Tropical in southern Spain the cherimoya tree was everywhere to be seen in the 1980's. With every new motorway construction, golf course and shopping development built; the cherimoya tree comes crashing down. It's so sad that Spain is destroying yet another food that is unique to this part of Southern Europe.

It's a delicious fruit. Low in fat and protein, but quite high in sugar, so it is not one for those who are dieting or who have to watch their sugar intake." With each passing year fewer and fewer chirimoyas are available in the supermarkets. All remaining production in Spain is for the domestic market but the countryside around the towns of Jete, Almuñécar and Salobréña has altered dramatically in the last five years alone.

The cherimoya tree has been sacrificed at the altar of so called progress and the development of yet more empty golf courses and motorway extensions that permit speeding drivers to go even faster. In the chirimoya, Spain has a fruit that is the envy of many other countries.

I wish someone in government in Spain would protect the cherimoya tree so that generations to come can sample a fruit that is a one-off.