Mangosteen

Pineapple used to be my favorite fruit... until mangosteen came into my life! The first time I tried this beautiful fruit was in Costa Rica. I wanted to take the lady's whole crate of them and gobble them all up! 

Mangosteen is a tropical tree, so it is grown primarily in southeast Asia and in some tropical South American countries. Luckily we're living in the Philippines, so the fruit stand we go to will have mangosteen pretty often. 

Mangosteen has a dark purple shell with a green top/ stem. The inside of the shell is a dark red, fibrous material. Sitting on the inside in the middle is where the fruit is. It's white and is sectioned into little pieces that you pull off and eat. Most of the pieces don't contain a seed, only one piece (the bigger piece) contains the seed. It's a really pretty fruit - but that might be a biased opinion because I love purple. 

The taste of the mangosteen is amazing- it's the perfect amount of sweet, tangy and juicy. It's really addicting! One time we got 6 pieces from the fruit stand and ate them all right when we got home! 

Unfortunately, there are tight import restrictions on mangosteen, so it's very rare to see them in produce sections of grocery stores in North America and Europe. But, some Western countries do have mangosteen canned or frozen. It's definitely worth checking out.

If you do get a chance to try a fresh one, here's how to open it -- no tools required! 

1. Get a good grip with both hands. This is how I hold it. // 2. Squeeze down firmly with even pressure with your thumbs, but not too hard or you'll ruin the fruit inside! It should start to break open.  // 3. One you get it to crack open, pull the top half off. // 4. This is what the inside looks like. // 5. Take a section of the fruit out. They kind of look like cloves of garlic (but don't worry, it tastes nothing like it!!) // 6. Enjoy the deliciousness that is mangosteen!

Mangosteen is definitely my favorite fruit. But when we leave the Philippines, I know I'm not going to have such easy access to it anymore. I guess I'll have to go back to pineapple being my favorite fruit!

Have you ever tried mangosteen? What's your favorite fruit?

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