Boricua food question:

Question

What is the English word for Canepas (or Quenepas) I'm married to a non Puerto Rican and I was trying to describe them to her. If I knew what they were called in English then I can look up some info on them.

Thanks

Answer 1

Quenepas, are known by several names, including mamón, Spanish lime, or limoncillo.

Quenepa is a fruit-bearing tree, native or naturalised over a wide area of the American tropics including Central America, Mexico, Colombia, Venezuela, Dominican Republic, Guyana, Suriname and the Caribbean.  

It is grown and cultivated for its ovoid, green fruit, which grow in bunches. The fruit ripen during the summer.  The fruit has a tight and thin but rigid layer of skin, traditionally cracked by the teeth. Inside the skin is the tart, tangy, cream pulp of the fruit, which is sucked by putting the whole fruit inside the mouth.

Fruit

Each  fruit has a large seed inside, the same ovoid shape as the fruit itself.  Seeds can be roasted and eaten just like sunflower seeds or chestnuts.