As a child growing up in Miami, I looked forward to those special trips to a Cuban restaurant’s walk-up counter on hot summer nights for a “batido de mamey” (mamey milkshake). Pronounced mah-MAY, ( a slight twist on MI-ami) , mamey is an exotic, football-shaped fruit with a rough, brown outer skin grown in Mexico, Central America, the Caribbean, and Southern Florida that most people have not even heard of.
In many ways, it is Miami’s best kept secret. For me, it was a delicacy beyond all delicacies. My favorite fruit by far, for which I would have been willing drive to any vegetable-fruit stand as far as Homestead (about 1 hour away for those you who don’t know Miami) during its brief season anywhere from March to April or July to August, depending on the varietal.
If you could turn an avocado into a silky, smooth, deep, bright pink (almost red) fruit with the most heavenly flavor you can imagine—that is mamey! This delicacy of a fruit takes patience to grow—a fruiting tree will not bear fruit before three to five years (and only with grafting from an established tree; growing from seed takes seven years ). Even so, the wait is worth it! These frost-averse trees only offer ripe fruit once a year, and to get your hands on this furry fruit is a trip into a world as silky as (and as desirable as) chocolate, in my opinion.
Lucky for everyone, you don’t have to live in Miami or the Caribbean to find this vitamin B and nutrient-rich, fiber-friendly fruit. Surprisingly, you can order mamey from websites like Amazon or this one for tropical fruit growers and savor the creaminess of this finicky fruit anywhere in the country. In my “Batido de Mamey” Cuban SuperFruit Breakfast Smoothie, we combine mamey with antioxidant-rich raw cacao in a smooth, dairy-free base of almond milk. Swiss chard turns this into a fiber and vitamin-rich breakfast.
You can drink it as a smoothie, or make it into a heartier breakfast smoothie bowl by following the instructions below.
Smoothie Ingredients
- 2 cups carrageenan-free, almond milk
- 1 ½ scoops protein powder (we love the Happy Gut® Cleanse Powder!)
- ½ Mamey
- ½ tbsp raw cacao
- 1 cup organic red Swiss chard
- 1 tbsp roasted, organic almond butter
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- Ice as needed
Breakfast Bowl Ingredients
- 1 banana – sliced into ½ inch discs
- 1 cup gluten-free toasted granola (like Liz’s Granola, low-glycemic granola)
- 1 cup organic blueberries
- ½ cup pecans
- ¼ cup sulfite-free, organic coconut flakes
Smoothie Steps
- Place ingredients in the order listed in a high-speed blender.
- Blend until smooth.
- Add ice to create the desired thickness.
- Pour into a tall glass and enjoy.
Smoothie Bowl Steps
- Prepare the smoothie first, and hold it aside. Make sure to add extra ice for a thicker consistency.
- Prepare a deep bowl by adding a layer of granola to the bottom. Add banana slices, blueberries and pecans in concentric circles.
- Carefully pour the first later of the smoothie to fill about 1/2 of the bowl.
- Repeat a layer of granola with concentric circles of banana slices, pecans and blueberries. Be creative in your design. Get the kids involved and make it fun. Maybe they want to create straight lines, instead, with the ingredients.
- Carefully pour another layer of the mamey smoothie to the desired amount.
- Layer banana slices, pecans and blueberries on top.
- Sprinkle with organic, sulfite-free coconut flakes.
- Enjoy with a spoon.
I’m not the only Mamey fan predicting its growth, read this Forbes article for more! (image from article)
Here’s to your Happy Gut with a touch of Cuban flavor!
Dr. Pedre
