It is official: I have a favorite tropical fruit.
Mangosteen. Unassuming from the outside, incredible on the inside, mangosteen
is, next to pineapple, the best fruit I’ve had. Possibly, ever.
Deep, dusty purple topped with a hat of bright green leaves,
mangosteen fits in a loosely closed hand. Eating it causes a bit of a mess, as
you typically use both your thumbs, pressing into the middle of the bottom, to
pry open the inedible outside. In the process, both your thumbs, thumbnails
included, end up temporarily stained bright magenta.
Inside, a delicious treasure is revealed. Small white
sections of succulent, sweet and tangy fruit await. The soft, juicy sections
include one much larger chunk, which holds the pit. The Thais even spend time
sucking the fruit off of the pit section, and I appreciate their tenacity. It
is definitely worth enjoying every last bit of a mangosteen.
