Product Review: Nances

Nances (a Spanish word [1], which is pronounced NAHN-sayce, mouseover for IPA) are small yellow fruits that grow in Central America. I never had them while I was in México, but several people I've talked to who served their missions [2] in southern México or Central America remember eating these. They contribute to the local cuisine of those areas in various ways.[3] I found them in the frozen section of a Mexican tienda in Orem.

My verdict: The nances had a slightly unpleasant, musty odor. The juice was pretty sweet, but had an aftertaste similar to the odor. Once you had sucked out the juice, eating the pulp of the fruit was not dissimilar to eating a green peach. After trying a few plain, I decided to juice the rest and add some evaporated milk and sugar.[4] At the center of the nance is a large stone, which is rather difficult to remove and thus proved rather messy. I had hoped that juicing the nances might eliminate the musty aftertaste, but alas, such was not the case. Adding milk and sugar improved the flavor a little, but not enough to make me want to buy them again. I guess you have to grow up with it to appreciate it.

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Notes:

[1] There is no English word that is consistently used for these fruits, so I'm sticking with the Spanish name. The scientific name for the plant is Byrsonima crassifolia.

[2] For those who are unsure why Latter-day Saints (Mormons) go on missions, I recommend you visit here and here, where you can learn more about LDS beliefs concerning sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ. If you have more questions, ask and maybe I'll do a full post on the topic.

[3] See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Byrsonima crassifolia.

[4] This is one of the ways they eat it in Belize.

Image attributions:

Nances are by MarioMelendez, available at http://www.flickr.com/photos/29723496@N08/3824344310/in/photostream/.