Caramel flavour and awesome yammines. It has a bit of “powdery” texture when fresh, but when used in dishes its heavenly sweet and tasty.
I can assure you that when you try it, you will be “hooked”…
A bit of background: Pouteria lucuma tree, which is native to Peru, Chile and Equador. Known as the Gold of the Incas in ancestral times, the fruit is yellowish green and egg-shaped with a dry, starchy yellow-orange flesh. It has maple or caramel to pumpkin-like taste.The pulp of the lucuma fruit (sometimes called egg fruit or lucmo in english) is dehydrated to produce the lucuma powder, or flour, which is marketed primarily as a flavoring.
Nutritional value: It is a great source of fiber and complex carbohydrates, as well as vitamins such as niacin and beta carotene. Lucuma powder contains 329 calories per 100 grams, with 87 grams of carbohydrates, 2.3 grams of fiber, 4 grams of protein and 2.4 grams of total fat content. It also has 92 mg of calcium (bone strength),186 mg of phosphorus (bone and protein formation, digestion and hormone balance)
Potential health benefits: could be added to desserts as a natural sweetener, and will not increase your blood sugar levels! (TADAM 🙂 !!!!), much better than many artificial sweeteners that offer empty calories. So it could be a healthy sugar alternative for people with diabetes and hormonal issues.
The easiest way to try lucuma outside of Peru is to buy lucuma powder. Its is easily available from amazon, the prices start from £4 for a reasonable size bag of powder.
I have tried 2 amazing dishes with lucuma and they are both very easy to make and super tasty – lucuma mousse and lucuma ice-cream.
Lucuma mousse and baked crunchy chocolate quinoa with aqyaymantos combination is amazing. I have tried it in Huacapucllana restaurant in Lima.
Lucuma Ice-cream is lush! Its soooo fresh and has this awesome tender caramel taste.
Other interesting photos of lucuma and recipes here
A few SUPER easy 5 min recipes are here:
OMGsoTasty 