Tejocote: All About the fruit of a Mexican Species of Hawthorn
Photography by Marie Viljoen. You know it well, or you have never heard of it. Because of their unfamiliarity in the US, many cooks are unaware of their heritage and uses. Ripe tejocote ranges from yellow to warm orange and red. When a farm in California’s Pauma Valley began growing tejocotes to supply local demand, the smuggling stopped. Raw, the flesh is mild, and very slightly tart. In Mexico, the name tejocote (derived from the Nahuatl tetl-xocotl, meaning stone fruit, because of its big seeds) refers to all species native to the region (numbering over a dozen). Serrato Family Farms began growing tejocote in California in the early 2000s. Ponche (a hot punch) is synonymous with tejocote, and is made with guava and spices and the slowly cooked tejocote whose aroma and sky-high pectin content (rather than strong flavor, which is non-existent) give the drink a unique texture and scent. Tejocotes simmering with citrus peel and fresh juniper in my kitchen. After several slow hours of cooking, the tejocotes are close to candied. I salt tejocotes overnight, prior to lacto-fermenting them. Sugar is added the next day, and then water to cover. Maybe, or not really: The hawthorn candy is chewy and sweet, the crack seed is chewy and tangy, and unripe ume remind me texturally of tejocote. Tejocote on Day 3 of lacto-fermentation. The acerbic tang (the crack seed influence) develops with time, from the fermentation process. Tejocote purée mixed with sugar and spicebush, before being dried into pastilles. Membrillo is a cooked quince paste thick enough to be sliced. It is wobbly and spreadable, and its texture is suggestive of fruit pastilles. The most simple way to enjoy these luscious-once-cooked fruits is time-honored: Tejocotes en almibar (in syrup). Prepare these the day before you plan to serve them, since the cooking and cooling can take around 6 hours. The first few simmerings should be brief, to avoid splitting the skin of the tejocotes, but towards the end of the process the skin is less fragile and you can simmer for longer, each time. Repeat these steps (simmer, then cool-to-tepid) around six times.