15 January 2013
BEIRUT: So soft you can rip it in two and so silky its name means cream, the ashta fruit has come into season to the delight of Lebanese here and abroad.
“It’s my favorite, actually. Whenever I have someone coming from Lebanon, they bring it,” said Hani Ayloush, general manager of Dubai-based Fruit Line Trading. “My family waits all year for the season.”
These funny-looking fruits look like the spawn of a pine cone and a mango and English speakers call it by several different names: sugar apple, custard apple or cherimoya. Though varieties of this dessert-like fruit grow from southern California to Thailand, the local product reigns as one of best, Ayloush said.
The local variety of ashta falls under the name custard apple in English because of this variety’s particular creaminess, Ayloush said.
Other varieties grow in Egypt, Thailand and Australia. In the warmer climates of Egypt and Thailand, the fruits ripen too quickly, while the Australian version has fewer seeds but less flavor, Ayloush said.
“For us, the Lebanese, we have a special taste we prefer. It’s moist and the taste – the sweetness – is much better,” he said.
An exotic fruit, even the locally grown variety costs at least $10 per kilo. In Dubai, where the fruit is imported via plane, prices are considerably higher but many will pay for a taste of home, Ayloush said.
Farmers grow the fruit-bearing ashta trees along the coastal areas in Kesrouan, Jbeil and the south. They can grow above sea level up to 500 meters, but flourish in the warmer climates.
In the past 10 to 15 years, farmers have increased supply, Ayloush said. This has lowered the price and made the cherished local variety more accessible in the Lebanese market and abroad.
Joumana Accad, a local foodie who spent many years in Texas, said the Western fruits don’t compare.
“When you buy it in the states, it’s called cherimoya – it’s pretty tasteless,” she said. She likened the local version to the most perfect pear you’ll ever eat. “It’s like you’re eating custard. It’s very creamy without being distressingly sweet,” she said.
For those unfamiliar with this local treasure, the fruit is ripe when it gives to very soft pressure. To avoid eating overripe or bruised fruit, buy ashta hard and green from a local grocer. Let the fruit ripen over a few days. A ripe ashta requires no knife and can be ripped by hand into pieces.
Foodies have experimented with ashta ice creams, sorbets and sherbets, which are simple uses of this subtle fruit, which can be easily overpowered by other flavors.
Juicers around Beirut sell ashta fruit shakes in a couple varieties. In Hamra, juice shops sell the fruit as a smoothie made with either water or milk, to play up the fruit’s creamy texture.
More adventurous foodies have incorporated ashta into fruit tarts, using its natural creaminess as a substitute for pastry cream. Lime is the most common pairing with ahsta in ice creams and other desserts.
But for locals and food connoisseurs alike, even just blending ashta into a shake detracts from the sensory experience of biting into its creamy, sweet flesh.
“Why add more stuff, when you have perfection right there?” Accad said.
Ashta Ice Cream
Ingredients:
- 4 large ashta fruits
- 2 limes
- 250 ml heavy cream
- 65 g sugar
Instructions:
1. Break ashta fruits open, scoop out flesh and remove seeds.
2. Blend flesh and juice from limes together until smooth.
3. Pour into a bowl and add the cream and sugar. Stir until sugar is dissolved.
4. Pour mixture into freezer tray and cover with foil.
5. Keep in freezer until ice cream is almost frozen.
6. Transfer the near-frozen mixture to a chilled bowl and beat until smooth but not melting.
7. Return to the tray, cover and freeze. Enjoy.
Ashta Tart
3 Serves 8 people
Ingredients:n 6 limes (or lemons if need be)
- 114 g (1/2 cup) of sugar
- A package of thawed butter puff pastry
- 1 egg, lightly beaten
- 0.7 kilograms of ashta
- A handful of raspberries
Instructions:
1. Grate 2.5 grams of lime zest and juice the limes.
2. Dissolve sugar in water in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer for about 15 minutes until syrupy. Remove syrup from heat and stir in half of the lime zest and a splash of lime juice. Let it cool to room temperature.
3. Grease a spring-form pan and roll out puff pastry with a rolling pin to remove creases. Lay puff pastry onto pan and gently press along the bottom and sides.
4. Brush the bottom and sides of the dough with an egg wash and refrigerate for 20 minutes.
5. Preheat oven to 176 Celsius. Prick holes into the bottom of the pastry and bake for 30 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from the oven and let cool to warm. Remove pastry from pan gently.
6. Cut the ashtas into four large pieces and peel. Cut the flesh into thick slices and remove all seeds. Brush the slices with lime juice so they don’t brown.
7. Place ashta attractively in the pastry and brush with the lime syrup. Sprinkle remaining lime zest and raspberries over the top. Serve.
Copyright The Daily Star 2013.
