Database Queen digs her thumbnails into the round purple fruit and begins to pull it apart.
Maybe I shouldn’t have told her about my new foods quest. On the one hand, she has been very supportive by bringing me strange new fruits and foods to try. But that means I have to eat them. It’s intimidating always eating new foods, and doubly so when someone else is choosing them for you.
The mangosteen she’s given me looks like a hard round plum, with a thick withering stalk poking out the top, surrounded by large drying leaves. On the bottom is a pretty flower-shaped pattern.
Database Queen points to the flower-shape. “The number of petals on the flower indicates how many wedges are inside.”
That’s kind of cool.
I try and break my mangosteen open. I’m such a weakling, at first I only manage to break bits of the hard crust off… ah, finally, the thick purple case begins to snap open.
Cradled inside this pinky-purple protection are white glistening fruit segments, like the inside of a mandarin but very pale and translucent. They seem so fragile and pure against the magenta boldness of their cradle… I feel like I’m about to snack into an embryo. Not a comforting thought.
Oh well. Pulling them completely free of the skin. Very soft and slippery. I take one and bite into it.
There is a firm, unyielding transparent centre. The white flesh around it is soft, with a mild sweet flavour. There is a tartness in the background, which I think comes from the pink juice of the hard shell. It’s a bit astringent, that purple stuff.
But the aril itself is okay, I guess. It’s sugary in a wet moist way.
I try a bigger segment and find the solid centre too large to entice me to swallow it down like the smaller one. I suck the edible whiteness away… now I feel very much like I’m eating snot.
Uh-oh. Between all these thoughts of mucus and fetuses this mangosteen is getting less and less appetising.
But the taste is okay! Focus on that! The texture is too soggy and it looks half-created, but no problems with the flavour.
I look at the remaining mangosteen. Um… maybe later.
Rating:
Specifics: Purple mangosteen bought at Harris Farm, Merrylands
Purple Mangosteen
Database Queen digs her thumbnails into the round purple fruit and begins to pull it apart.
Maybe I shouldn’t have told her about my new foods quest. On the one hand, she has been very supportive by bringing me strange new fruits and foods to try. But that means I have to eat them. It’s intimidating always eating new foods, and doubly so when someone else is choosing them for you.
The mangosteen she’s given me looks like a hard round plum, with a thick withering stalk poking out the top, surrounded by large drying leaves. On the bottom is a pretty flower-shaped pattern.
Database Queen points to the flower-shape. “The number of petals on the flower indicates how many wedges are inside.”
That’s kind of cool.
I try and break my mangosteen open. I’m such a weakling, at first I only manage to break bits of the hard crust off… ah, finally, the thick purple case begins to snap open.
Cradled inside this pinky-purple protection are white glistening fruit segments, like the inside of a mandarin but very pale and translucent. They seem so fragile and pure against the magenta boldness of their cradle… I feel like I’m about to snack into an embryo. Not a comforting thought.
Oh well. Pulling them completely free of the skin. Very soft and slippery. I take one and bite into it.
There is a firm, unyielding transparent centre. The white flesh around it is soft, with a mild sweet flavour. There is a tartness in the background, which I think comes from the pink juice of the hard shell. It’s a bit astringent, that purple stuff.
But the aril itself is okay, I guess. It’s sugary in a wet moist way.
I try a bigger segment and find the solid centre too large to entice me to swallow it down like the smaller one. I suck the edible whiteness away… now I feel very much like I’m eating snot.
Uh-oh. Between all these thoughts of mucus and fetuses this mangosteen is getting less and less appetising.
But the taste is okay! Focus on that! The texture is too soggy and it looks half-created, but no problems with the flavour.
I look at the remaining mangosteen. Um… maybe later.
Rating:
Specifics: Purple mangosteen bought at Harris Farm, Merrylands