First mangosteen experience

One day my hubby came back from work with a bag of strange looking fruits. Apparently someone at the store gave him a taste of it, and he loved it and wanted me to taste it as well (thanks hon!!). From its exterior, it looked like some kind of genetically programmed vegetable. It looked half between baby eggplant and persimmon.

The inside also looked strange (kind of looked like a whole bunch of lychees). I had a bite, and to my surprise it was just so yummy!

At that time, we didn't know what it was, so I took a picture and posted on FB asking my Indian friends what it was. Immediately I got an answer saying it was "the" mangosteen!! I knew the fruit by name, but I never spent time to do a search to actually check what it looks like. I would certainly never have imagined that "the" mangosteen looked like that. Also I would never have imagined that I could actually eat it, as in Japan mangosteens are so expensive and rare. One mangosteen can cost up to 500 yen a piece (a little over $6). Here in India, my hubby doesn't remember, but I am sure they are much cheaper.

Although I was a bit afraid of trying different kinds of fruit after the incident with lovely custard apples, I think I have become a big fan of mangosteen! Mangosteen is also called "the queen of fruit", and it indeed looks like a pretty queen protected carefully in a thick rind, which is very very bitter btw (yep, I tried).