It is ginnip season here in Antigua and the fruit is available everywhere. Ginnips are small ovoid fruits with shiny light green skin. Ginnips ripen in clusters on a small-leafed tree that grows to 30 feet. The tree is widespread in the Caribbean and Central America and is also known as ‘mamoncillo’. There are three layers to the fruit but only the middle layer is edible in the raw state. The outer skin is thick and somewhat brittle and easy to break with your teeth. Under the skin and surrounding the hard seed is the thin layer of pink/orange flesh that has a subtle flavor that is mildly sweet.
They are sold in bunches in every roadside stand and market and hawked by children who excel at climbing the trees to harvest ginnips. On Sunday,we passed a ginnip tree and my local friends jumped out, scavenged a long stick for picking the high bunches and were up on top of Sue B’s roof rack reaching high for the ripest clusters of fruit. I came home with several bunches and have enjoyed popping the fruit into my mouth and sucking and scraping the tasty meat off the pits with teeth and tongue before ejecting the almond sized pit. Much effort is required in eating ginnips as there is so little edible fruit per ginnip. Needless to say, ginnip jams, jellies ice cream, fruit drinks and other items made with ginnips do not exist because of the small volume of fruit per piece. The delicate taste, however, is worth it.
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