fruit · The Trophy Room
Velvet Apple
A persimmon relative wearing a coat of fur. The velvet apple, or mabolo, hangs from the tree in a fuzzy reddish-brown skin, and under the velvet is soft, sweet, cream-colored flesh — though the smell, like a strong cheese, splits opinion the same way durian does.
Identifying
- round fruit covered in a fine velvety fuzz, coppery brown to dull orange-red
- soft, pale, sweetish flesh inside around several seeds
- the fuzzy skin is usually peeled off before eating
- a strong, cheesy-to-funky aroma when fully ripe
Facts
- a true Diospyros, kin to the persimmon and ebony trees
- the velvet skin is unusual among fruits — most people rub or peel it away first
- native to the Philippines and grown across Southeast Asia; the tree's dense wood is prized too
