Caimito: The Blueberries-and-Cream-Colored Fruit of Mystery
Chrysophyllum cainito L.
“And what is the next, like an evergreen peach, shedding from the under side of every leaf a golden light—call it not shade? A Star-apple…
”
Traveller, it is not often that I come to you reveling in senses, but I have come to appreciate the olfactory, tactile, visual, and gustatory sensations to embody the alphabet of a most ANCIENT language shared across taxonomic kingdoms. In this case, we are talking the stories told among plants and people.
The language of senses is so ancient that most of humankind can speak it upon birth. For example, how many toddlers have been scolded by a cactus, “do not touch me,” and understood immediately what it was yelling? How many fruits have sung the song of, “I am ready for you” using nothing but the music of colors? I respect these evolutionary perceptions as our Earthly alphabet, and, like many plants of the Earth, Chrysophyllum cainito has much to say to us.
As long as we have eyes and a passionate capacity to appreciate beauty, C. cainito will posses one of the most stunning edible fruits to be plucked from the face of the Earth. It strikes an aesthetic pedal point at every wavelength between 350-450 nanometers. The white of milk—the color of first life and everything visible—permeates the ovary. The star apple’s royal black seeds are enshrined in a translucent castle of jelly (a region of milk suspended in succulent glass).
The flavor of the fruit pulp is understated. The rumor of dark deciduous forest berries circulates the palate. The legendary adventurer, and botanical painter with her own museum at the Royal Botanic Gardens (Kew), Marianne North, described the fruit in her autobiography as “filled with blancmange flavoured with black currants” [7].
Painting 107. Foliage, Flowers, and Seed-vessels of Cotton, and Fruit of Star Apple, Jamaica by Marianne North, 1872. © The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
A tacky latex flirts with sealing your lips closed around a sweetness of a gentle and reassuring level. The star apple is a subdued but ever-present pinch of sweet.
Well— as the local ambassador for humankind— I assert that we people appreciate your life, generosity, and great beauty, C. cainito ! Therefore, we have endeavored to learn about you now. It is our collective expression of a sincere love that is both reciprocal and grateful from us to you.
Welcome to the marvelous obscurity and ravishing beauty that is Chrysophyllum cainito;
Welcome to the world of
The Caimito
Family — Sapotaceae
Family Characteristics — Family members tend to grow as trees and shrubs who exude a milky latex and present golden hairs on the undersides of their leaves.
Aliases — 金星果 {meaning: golden star fruit} (CHINESE); 牛奶果 {meaning: milk fruit} (CHINESE/HONG KONG); sterappel, apra, goudblad boom (DUTCH/SURINAME); star apple, goldenleaf tree (ENGLISH); star-plum (ENGLISH/BARBADOS); damsel (ENGLISH/BELIZE); caimite, caimitier (FRENCH); caimite, jaune d'oeuf, pai-caillemit (French Guiana/CREOLE); pied caimite, caimitier a feuilles d'or (FRENCH/HAITI); pomme surette, buis (FRENCH/WEST INDES); ajara, cainito (PORTUGUESE); macoucou (POTRUGUESE/FRENCH GUIANA) caimito, estrella (SPANISH); aguay, olivoa (SPANISH/ARGENTINA); caimitero, murucuja (SPANISH/BOLIVIA); caimo, caimo morado (SPANISH/COLUMBIA); guayabillo (SPANISH/EL SALVADOR); caimite, kaimit (TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO); cainit (VIRGIN ISLANDS)
Binomial Etymology — Derived from the LATIN term, chrysos, Chryso- refers to the color of gold, while -phyllum refers to a tribe [4]. caimito is a SPANISH colloquial term for the fruit.
Binomial Pronunciation —
Synonyms — Achras caimito Ruiz & Pavon; Cainito pomiferum Tussac; Chrysophyllum bicolor Poir.; Chrysophyllum caeruleum Jacq.; Chrysophyllum jamaicense Jacq.; Chrysophyllum maliforme L.; Chrysophyllum monopyrenum Spreng.; Cynodendron bicolor (Poir.) Baehni
How to Store Caimito
Caimito fruit is said to store poorly, however, Purdue university said the star apple can be stored fresh for up to three weeks at 37º-43º F (3º-6º C) at a relative humidity of 90% [3]. The aforementioned temperatures are in the range of an average refrigerator, so perhaps it would be advantageous to store them in a zip-locked bag with a moist paper towel in your refrigerator.
Ethnobotany of Caimito
In FRENCH NEW GUIANA An infusion of the star apple seedling was used to purge bile from the system, the bark was used to brew a stimulating tonic, and a decoction of the leaves was used to bring down high blood sugars. [6]
Caimito and Jamaican Symbolism
The leaves of the caimito have a bronze-velvet underbelly with a glossy green dorsal side-- a revered ornamental feature as the leaves appear to make the tree sparkle with a slight breeze-- however, in Jamaica, this is a characteristic representative of something more sinister than beauty.
The stark contrast between the two sides of the leaf represents duplicity as an old Jamaican proverb asserts that one can be "deceitful like a star-apple leaf," i.e, “two-faced.” [5]
Caimito in Cuban Poetry
Traveller, as our explorations have shown, sometimes a plant can lead you to unexpected places. In this case, the caimito leads us first to Cuba in the 1930s, and sets us within the words of a prolific costumbrista poet from Camagüey named Emilio Ballagas. Mr. Ballagas’s poetry serves to set the crying child within us at ease at night with caimito and meringue.
Emilio Ballagas (1908-1954)
Canción de cuna para dormir a un negrito
By Emilio Ballagas
Translations used with permission from Dr. Nicholas Edward Miguel from The art songs of Modesta Bor (1926-1998).
Original Dialect
Drómiti, mi nengre,
drómiti, ningrito.
Caimito y merengue,
merengue y caimito.
Drómiti, mi nengre,
mi nengre bonito.
¡Diente de merengue,
bemba de caimito!
Cuando tú sia glandi
va a sé bosiador…
Nengre de mi vida,
nengre de mi amor…
(Mi chiviricoqui,
chiviricocó…
¡Yo gualda pa ti
tajá de melón!)
Si no calla bemba
y no limpia moco,
le va’abrí la puetta
a Visente e’loco.
Si no calla bemba
te va’da e’gran sutto.
Te va’a llevá e’loco
dentro su macuto.
Ne la mata’e güira
te ñama sijú.
Condío en la puetta
etá e’tatajú…
Drómiti mi nengre,
cara’e bosiador,
nengre de mi vida,
nengre de mi amor.
Mi chiviricoco,
chiviricoquito
Caimito y merengue,
merengue y caimito.
A’ora yo te acuetta
’la maca e papito
y te mese suave…
Du’ce…, depasito…
y mata la pugga
y epanta moquito
pa que due’ma bien
mi nengre bonito
— Emilio Ballagas
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Traditional Spanish
Duérmete mi negro, duérmete negrito.
Caimito y merengue, merengue y caimito. Duérmete mi negro,
mi negro bonito.
¡Dientes de merengue, bemba de caimito! Cuando tú seas grande
vas a ser boxeador... Negro de mi vida,
negro de mi amor...
Mi chiviricoqui, chiviricocó... (cute names) ¡Yo guardo para ti,una tajada de melón!) Si no callas la bemba
y no limpias tus mocos, Le voy a abrir la puerta a Vicente El Loco.
Si no callas la bemba
te va a dar el gran susto. Te va a llevar el Loco dentro de su macuto. En la mata de güira
te llama el sijú. Escondido en la puerta está el papá Judas... Duérmete mi negro, cara de boxeador, Negro de mi vida, negro de mi amor.
Mi chiviricoqui, chiviricocó...
Caimito y merengue, merengue y caimito. Ahora yo te acuesto
en la hamaca de papito Y te meceré suave... dulce..., despacito...
Y mataré la pulga
y espantaré el mosquito Para que duerma bien mi negro bonito.
—————————————————————————————————————————————————————-
English Translation
Sleep my black child, sleep little black one. Caimito and meringue, meringue and caimito. Sleep my black child, my pretty black child. Teeth of meringue, lips of caimito!
When you are big
you’re going to be a boxer... Black child of my life,
black child of my love...
(My cutie pie,
cutie ...
I keep for you,
a slice of melon!)
If you do not shut your lips
and do not clean your snot,
I’m going to open the door
to Madman Vicente.
If you do not shut your lips
he’s gonna give you a big scare. He’s gonna take you
inside his backpack.
Into the Calabash Tree forest the pygmy owl calls you. Hidden in the door
is Old Man Judas...
Go to sleep my black child, face of a boxer,
Black child of my life,
black child of my love.
My cutie pie,
cutie...
Caimito and meringue, merengue and caimito.
Now I’ll lay you
in daddy’s hammock
and I’ll rock you gently... Sweet..., slow...
And I’ll kill the flea
and I’ll scatter the mosquito,
so you can sleep well
my pretty black child.
— Translation by Nicholas Miguel
Modesta Bor (1926–1998)
The above poem was set to music by the beloved late Venezuelan composer, Modesta Bor, whom is little know outside of her home country as of this writing. If you are interested in exploring her work, and life history, you simply will not find a better scholarly treatment than Dr. Nicholas Miguel’s dissertation linked below.
Below is a performance of the Emilio Ballagas’s poetry— which uses the caimito to great effect— set to the music of Modesta Bor. .
