Mangosteens

It's not a cross between a mango and Bruce Springsteen.

Kingdom: Planta
Division: Magnoliophyta
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Malpighiales
Family: Clusiaceae
Genus: Garcinia

Mangosteens are in season at the moment and I'm completely smitten with these beautiful fruits. The purplish outer shell is rather hard. But don't be fooled as they're easily opened after a couple of pokes with your fingernail, or a butter knife - if you're civilized. Inside, a milky white fruit, shaped a peeled mandarin orange is engulfed in a deep wine colored spongy layer waiting to be devoured.

Mangosteens are rarely found in the US because they can only be grown in the tropics and are illegal to import without fumigation due to fears that they harbor the Asian fruit fly.

We went to one of our villages in Leupung district, about 30 minutes south of Banda Aceh. There was a fruit orchard full of ripen mangosteens, rambutans (furry red fruits that taste like lychees) and durians (stinky spiky things). The villagers knew that I liked mangosteens and picked like 20 of them off the tree. I ate most of them there and carried back enough for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

I ate all these, plus more!

My fingers are still slightly red!