Key West Mamey Sapote season is just getting started!
When it comes to summertime options, this lighter and creamier variety is a great choice compared to the denser Magaña variety; which suits the Winter/ Spring very well!
Pay close attention to the ripening process of this particular fruit. Unlike the Magaña variety, it tends to show less wrinkling when it's ready and ripens at a faster rate.
When it's fully ripe, it will be as soft as a ripe avocado all over.
Where did Key West Mamey come from?
The Key West Mamey, also known as the Pantin Mamey, was discovered growing near a fire station in Key West, Florida.
The Key West Mamey, also known as the Pantin Mamey, was discovered growing near a fire station in Key West, Florida.
It is believed that the seeds of this tree came from Cuba through 19th-century dissidents who left the island at that time. Originally, the tree was called the Key West Mamey Sapote until it was selected and propagated by Eugenio Pantin in the early 1950s.
A Cuban émigré named Josefina Jimenez smuggled three Mamey seeds into the US in her brassiere and gave them to Pantin, who grew them as seedling rootstocks. He then grafted the budwood of the Key West Mamey tree onto them. Following this, Pantin planted a small commercial orchard in Miami-Dade County, Florida.
After his death in 1963, his son, Donald, took over the family business. Nurseryman, Lawrence Zill, who recognized the potential of Eugenio's prized cultivar, named it the Pantin Mamey Sapote.
