Tejocote, a peculiar crab-apple-like fruit that most people have never heard of but that is a crucial ingredient in ponche, the hot fruit punch emblematic of the holidays. Once the most smuggled fruit on the Mexican border, tejocote is prohibited no more.
Cheap and abundant in the Mexican highlands, tejocote (pronounced te-ho-COT-e) can’t be imported to this country because it can harbor exotic insect pests that would devastate American agriculture. So devotees of real ponche have had to resort to frozen or jarred or even smuggled fruit;
Tejocotes are also used in Christmas pinatas; for making jellies, jams and fruit cheese; for candying, such as for toffee apples; for extracting profitable pectin; and also for weaving into necklaces.
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