When my cousin introduced me to the Mangosteen several years ago, he described it as the best fruit on Earth. We were in Harrod’s (yes, in London) and found it in their wonderful fresh produce department. We bought a few of the admittedly-odd-looking fruit, and he began to peel it prior to exiting the store. He pried out a pale, whitish fleshy wedge, and handed it to me.
In a single word: absolute delight.
Upon returning to San Francisco, I sought out this heavenly treasure, but alas, have never found it (other than in preserved format, which doesn’t hold nearly the same appeal). On subsequent trips to the Netherlands, London, and Vietnam, I’ve managed to find and consume the delicious fruit on each trip.
I recently visited http://www.mangosteen.com/ to try to find out why I can’t get the darn things in the US. Turns out that due to some types of Asian insects combined with a lack of irradiation ability, the mangosteen is not available. Although a recent update to the site implies that the US department of agriculture is working to get the fruit importable (is that a word?) sometime this year! Joy!
Personally, I describe the taste as “somewhere between a kiwi, mango, and raspberry” but I don’t think that’s quite right. Wikipedia says “underripe strawberry, with hints of sweet orange” which is also off in my opinion. All I can say is when given the chance, seek it out. It’s worth it.
More photos of the mangosteen in action.
ps – no, it is not a Jewish mango.
This past week 
There’s a lot of musings about the “
