AVENTURIST IN SEASON
FRUITS of Their Labor
THE DUO BEHIND MIAMI FRUIT OFFERS RARE TROPICAL TREATS THAT ARE GOOD (AND GOOD FOR YOU ) By Kristen Desmond LeFevre There’s nothing like biting into a fresh piece of ripe tropical fruit. It’s not a rare experience for Miamians. But let’s say you live someplace where it’s not so easy to hold an edible piece of sunshine—like a cherimoya, a passion fruit, or a sapodilla—in your hand. Enter Rane Roatta, co-owner of Miami Fruit. Working as a professional saxophonist wasn’t enough to pay the bills, so he started a side gig in 2015: picking up fruit from farms to sell at Miami markets. RARE, RIPE, AND READY When his bike became overladen with fruit, Roatta bought a FRUITS TO FAWN OVER IN MAY & JUNE: car. When his car broke down, he bought a van. Roatta began posting his pastime to social media, and CHERIMOYA: ROSE APPLE: “This apple people took notice. “On top of the stand we were running, out“Delicious and is sweet and tart in flavor, of-towners started asking me to send them fruit to New York creamy, this fruit like pink lemonade.” and Wisconsin and all over the place—and then they told their can be chilled and friends. Before I knew it, I was the fruit guy on Facebook and I eaten with a spoon, which has earned couldn’t keep up with the messages.” SAPODILLA: “With a sweet, malty it the nickname of the ice cream fruit.” Roatta turned to his partner, Edelle Schlegel, for help. She flavor, this is sometimes created a website and Instagram account for Miami Fruit, and called the brown sugar eventually the pair bought a seven-acre fruit farm where they CUSTARD APPLE: fruit for its sweet, brown, experiment with varieties that aren’t available at supermarkets. “Sweet and custardy grainy flesh.” “It’s really special to have customers who email us and say, with rich and unique ‘Oh, my gosh, I haven’t had this fruit since I was a kid at my flavors ranging from SPROUTED COCONUT: “Crack the grandma’s house,’” Roatta says. raspberry to sweet vanilla.” shell open to find a big spongy mass Pre-pandemic, Miami locals could snag Roatta and Schlethat can have a flavor profile ranging gel’s wares weekly from Fairchild Market (stay tuned to their DRAGON FRUIT: “This from sweet and juicy to social media accounts for plans to reintroduce in-person pick fruit’s texture is similar salty and savory—with ups), while customers as far away as Canada can receive boxes to a kiwi because of its a texture akin to cotton shipped on demand or via subscription. But no matter where black, crunchy seeds.” candy or sponge cake.” Miami Fruit’s customers are located, the DMs and emails pour in, praising the taste of a batch of rose apples or fawning over the experience of trying white sapote for the first time. Roatta says he gets a sense of pride from introducing customers to new types of fruit. It’s his way, he says, of sharing a little bit of sunshine, one piece of fruit at a time. (miamifruit.com)
JACKFRUIT: “Unripe jackfruit makes an excellent meat replacement. When ripe, the flavor is very sweet and flavorful, similar to Juicy Fruit gum.”
MAMEY SAPOTE: “The flavor is comparable to a sweet potato mixed with pumpkin pie, and it has a texture similar to an avocado when ripe.”
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SOURSOP (GUANABANA): “This fruit’s flavor is a combo of strawberry and pineapple, with sour citrus notes contrasting with an underlying creaminess reminiscent of coconut or banana.”
WHITE SAPOTE: “Creamy and custard-like, the flavor has hints of peach, pear, lemon, banana, caramel, melon, mint, and vanilla.”
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