Mangosteen

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Name Variations

 * mangostan

About Mangosteen
Wikipedia Article About Mangosteen on Wikipedia

The mangosteen (Garcinia mangostana) is a tropical evergreen tree, believed to have originated in the Sunda Islands and the Moluccas. The tree grows from 7 to 25 meters tall. The edible fruit is deep reddish purple when ripe. In Asia, the mangosteen fruit is known as the "Queen of Fruits," while the durian (Durio spp.) is known as the "King of Fruits." It is closely related to other edible tropical fruits such as button mangosteen and lemondrop mangosteen.

The outer shell of the fruit is rather hard, typically 4-6 cm in diameter. Cutting through the shell, one finds a white, fleshy fruit 3-5 cm in diameter. Depending on the size and ripeness, there may or may not be pits in the segments of the fruit. The number of fruit pods is directly related to the number of petals on the bottom of the shell. On average a mangosteen has 5 fruits (round up figure).

Its taste may be compared to that of an underripe strawberry, with hints of sweet orange. Its seed, however, is not edible and if one accidently bit into it, one would be in for a very bitter experience. There is a story, possibly apocryphal, about Queen Victoria offering a cash reward to anyone who could deliver to her the fabled fruit. Although it is available in cans and frozen, mangosteen is rarely sold fresh in Western countries other than in some Asian grocery stores; they are illegal to import as whole fruit into the United States due to fears that they harbor the Asian fruit fly which would devastate US crops if it were ever introduced. This barrier to entry may be eliminated in the future as new produce irradiation techniques spread in popularity. Other products derived from the mangosteen fruit may be legally imported into the United States and are used to produce a variety of juices and nutritional supplements.

The mangosteen, along with other popular Asian fruits such as the rambutan and the longan, is now being grown and sold on some of the Hawaiian islands, although they are presently not being exported to the continental US due to the reasons stated above. However, Hawaiian growers are working with a Honolulu irradiation facility for future export to the continental United States. The mangosteen is also grown, and very popular in Central Africa, and particularly in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. An ultra-tropical, the Mangosteen tree must be grown in consistently warm conditions; exposure to temperatures below 40F will generally kill a mature plant.

Buying Mangosteen
As with any fruit, you can get ridiculously expensive Mangosteens or ordinary decently priced ones. Depending on what type of dish you are preparing, you might want to adjust your cooking budget to the type of Mangosteens you need. In general, the cost of Mangosteens is perfectly acceptable by any standards and they are often considered some of the most accessible fruits you can use in your fruit salads or deserts. Depending on different cuisines and regions of the world, Mangosteens may be considered a common fruit or a delicacy. Most European countries, for example, don’t see Mangosteens as an expensive and hard-to-get fruit, bur some African countries might rarely use them in their traditional dishes. Although in extreme cases Mangosteens will not be available at all, because of imports, many countries that don’t traditionally grow them always have a full and fresh supply of Mangosteens on the fruit market.

Preparing Mangosteen
One of the most important elements that define any fruit preparation method today involves the cooking time. The faster you can cook a certain fruit, the more popular it is, it seems. Mangosteens are mostly used for filling for cakes and pastry items, but there are diverse ways of preparing them. Compotes using this fruit are often very popular in many cuisines and the nutritious values of Mangosteens are often saved through smart preservation techniques. While in most cases, preparing Mangosteens for a dessert or a drink will not take more than a few minutes, you can also boil them and use them as such in various main meals and desserts. When boiling, you should also take into consideration the particular type of Mangosteen you are using, as some are firmer than others and take longer to prepare.

Cooking Mangosteen
There are so many ways in which you can sue Mangosteens in your culinary arts. Mangosteen preparation methods and dish types differ from one region to another, and many people are experiencing this fruit in a totally different way than what they were used to when they taste a national cuisine dish belonging to another country. Most of the dishes containing Mangosteens are desserts and snacks, but some countries also use them in combination with salty items such as meat or Fruits. Mangosteens are widely appreciated in many national cuisines, and this is clearly seen in the diversity of methods that chefs all over the world created for their preparation.

Mangosteen Recipes
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