TAMARIND - Fruit

 

Tamaraind is a tropical tree, native to eastern Africa, including parts of the Madagascar.  Tamarind was introduced into most of tropical Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean. The fruit is a brown pod-like legume, which contains a soft pulp and many hard-coated seeds.  In Asia and Latin America, tamarind can be used in cooking, turned into beverage, or can be eaten as a snack or dessert.  Did you know that tamarind is an important ingredient in Worcestershire sauce?

This is a box of tamarind available in some grocery or supermarkets, Asian stores, and some Central American stores.  FYI:  I bought this at Whole Foods Market in Houston Street, NYC.

Tamarind also comes in paste form which can be bought to use as condiment in soups, and dishes.  Some top chefs add them in their continental dishes to enhance the flavor of the dish.

If you would like to try eating them as a fruit, below is my video demonstrating how to eat them.  I I like the taste particularly  for their semi sweet and tart taste.  These particular ones in my demonstration are sweet.  It's like eating plums with a paste-like texture.

Please watch my video below:

There are benefits from eating tamarind. The pulp is rich in calcium, phosphorus, iron, thiamine and riboflavin and a good source of niacin.

For more on Tamarind, you may follow the link.

http://ultraexotic.com/Scripts/prodList.asp?idCategory=20

MANGOSTEEN

You've heard all about mangosteen.  I'm here to discuss a little about it because it is a seasonal fruit.  Right now, one can buy fresh mangosteen fruit in Chinatown, NYC.  They may have them in other parts of the world besides Southeast Asia.

Mangosteen is a small and very slow-growing tropical evergreen tree. The height of the tree attains 20 to 82 feet. The length of its leaves is up to 10 inches. The width of its flowers is 1 ½ to 2 inches. And maybe male or hermaphrodite is on the same tree.

Mangosteen is native to South East Asia and requires a year round, warm, very humid, equatorial climate. In spite of that, many people have tried to plant Mangosteen in other places, such as California, Florida, or special greenhouses somewhere outside South East Asia. The outcome is seldom successful due to the different living conditions. The tree only can grow well in tropical areas and requires abundant moisture. Thailand or Burma are the original countries people found Mangosteen in. Recently tropical Australia has been found to be an excellent area for Mangosteen production.

I have found them in the Philippines and in Vietnam.  It was my Mother's favorite fruit.

 To eat the mangosteen, put it on its side and cut around it as the edible part is in the center and sometimes may contain a harder seed.

Once you cut around, you break the fruit apart to get to the white segmented edible part.

The edible center is juicy with a slightly sweet and tart taste that I personally love.  It does not taste like the mangosteen juice that you buy from a store.  If you can find them fresh, I recommend you try them.  There usually is one segment with a harder seed that you should not bite through.  They are not easy to find outside Southeast Asia.  They are pricey in Asia and more so outside of Southeast Asia; but worth the try. 

Much has been made of the extensive antioxidant properties of vitamins, especially Vitamin C and Vitamin E that is found in the mangosteen fruit.

For more information go to http://www.pubmed.com/
and search for “Xanthones" or "Garcinia Mangostana" in the database and read the scientific research.