MANGOSTEENS!

Some of my friends will know that I went through a phase of being obsessed with mangosteens -- an exotic fruit one cannot acquire in the United States (although I believe there are people trying to change this). I became obsessed with the fruit after reading a New York Times article about it, which describes the mangosteen as an exquisite fruit unlike any other fruit, which one cannot hope to taste in the US due to importation regulations and the fruits' delicate and travel-challenged nature. I found this article fascinating, as it was a piece of literature trying to describe a fruit its average reader had no relative knowledge of. It's like trying to describe, say, an airplane to someone who has never seen an automated vehicle of any kind... or something along those lines, if you know what I mean. It seemed a fabulous writing challenge -- what adjectives do you use to describe a fruit that is unlike any other fruit, to readers who, on the whole, may never get a chance to taste it? How does one approximate with adjectives the fruits' qualities as closely as possible?

Fortunately for me, I was able to taste my first mangosteens in Sydney. I was astounded when I went to my local Cole's (a big grocery store chain in Australia) to discover a MOUNTAIN of mangosteens. In fact, this is how David and I became friends. I had randomly mentioned to him my obsession for mangosteens and my hopes to taste them while in Australia, since the fruits may be imported to Australia from Asia more readily. David had not himself tasted the mangosteen, but expressed interest in learning more about this mystical fruit. When I encountered the massive mountain of mangosteens, I called David to say, "Hey, look, when one is confronted with a MOUNTAIN of a fruit one has been obsessed with for some time, does one buy one, three, or twenty of such fruits?!" I bought 4 that day, and took one to work so David could taste one, too.

Since that time, mangosteen has become more popular, if not in actual fruit form, in juice form, as it is now considered a "super fruit" -- full of anti-oxidants, nutrients, and other good-for-you elements. Health food stores carry mangosteen juices and tablets; one sees mangosteens in various places these days, although we still haven't seen them in New York.

David and I picked up a few mangosteens at our local Waitrose here in London yesterday -- and they were DELICIOUS! And we felt super-fooded. David calls them a "garlic fruit" -- I like to think of them as more like a cross between a lychee, a persimmon and an orange... although sometimes, when I crack one open, it's hard not think that the fleshy white sectors have an uncanny resemblance in appearance and texture to... well, a larvae...

They do make excellent snacks and breakfast fruits, though, and I feel we will be eating quite a few of these super fruits during our stay in London...