So soft you can rip it in two and so silky its name means cream, the ashta fruit has come into season to the delight of Lebanese here and abroad. These funny-looking fruits look like the spawn of a pine cone and a mango and English speakers call it by several different names: sugar apple, custard apple or cherimoya.
Lebanese farmers grow the fruit-bearing ashta trees along the coastal areas in Kesrouan, Jbeil and the south. They can grow above sea level up to 500 meters, but flourish in the warmer climates.
Juicers around Beirut sell ashta fruit shakes in a couple varieties. In Hamra, juice shops sell the fruit as a smoothie made with either water or milk. But for locals and food connoisseurs alike, even just blending ashta into a shake detracts from the sensory experience of biting into its creamy, sweet flesh.