Mangosteens are here!

In case you thought all we had in Thailand was snakes, I thought I'd post something about one of our unusual fruits. This is the Mangosteen, or Mangkut in Thai. Southern Thailand is the home of the Mangosteen, and its so delicious its considered the "Queen of Tropical Fruits". We have several of the trees on our property and they are producing faster than we can eat them right now. As you can see, they have a dark-red or purple skin and white fruit segments which has a sweet, slightly tart flavor. The trees start producing in May and continue through most of the rainy season, so we will be having them for a while. They are suppose to be very good for you health-wise in that they contain a very potent antioxidant. But until a few years ago you could not get them in the U.S. due to import restrictions. Now, the ban was lifted recently and I read where they have sold in gourmet shops in New York for $45 a pound. Maybe we should load up our suitcases when we come back next month!