One of my dreams came true this week when I walked into the Countdown supermarket in Whangarei and saw mangosteen.

Over 25 years ago i first tasted this hard shelled milky white fruit in Bali and had one of my earliest mouthgasms!

As you can see, they (Garcinia mangostana L. ) look like hard reddish brown mandarins and inside they look exactly like a mandarin except the pulp is milky white and each section has a large brown seed. The texture is somewhat lychee-like but the flavour is delicate and exciting, indescrible as it teases your tongue and melts in your mouth.

The tropical fruit is hard to get into, but with a good knife you can either cut a bit of the shell off and then peel them, or slice in half (carefully with a strong arm) and then use a teaspoon to get them out.

I remember researching them all those years ago and finding they only grew in hot humid climates and had to have really deep roots, perhaps the trees needed to be very old before they produced.

From http://www.mangosteen.com/ I found that this is not strictly true:Under ideal conditions (plant nursery), the first fruit can be as soon as 6 years after the seed sprouts but the initial low light period is still essential for about the first two years. They do require a tropical climate however, so my subtropical orchard probably won't allow me to grow these divine fruit trees.

The mangosteen has historically been praised (see History and Folklore) for countless centuries by all who encountered it. The edible interior is renown for its indescribable sweet-sour melting rush of flavors. But apart from the edible treasure inside the hull, the rind (technically a pericarp) has also been part of Ayurvedic medicine and has been valued throughout its native range for its medicinal qualities.

There is much more you can read about this fruit, but I'm just thrilled to have a dream come true, and irregardless of food miles or Carbon points, I'll buy them whenever I can - I hope they are not seasonal. YUM! Can't wait for my next mouthgasm (thanks to my friend Philippa for that spunky descriptive word).