hello there,

my uncle is a surgeon in china, and apparently his patients really like to show their gratitude by giving him random edible gifts. so while i was staying with my grandma over the summer, every so often, my uncle would come over and dump these “gifts” on us. one time, my mom and i had to help him lug a huge box of fresh eggs, a live chicken, and several watermelons (that he’d received simultaneously on that day) back from the hospital. another time, someone had gifted him an enormous crate of this mysterious purple fruit imported from thailand. for months, i puzzled over the name of this fruit…until FINALLY, as i was watching chopped today, out popped from the entrée basket this same fruit! its name is apparently mangosteen. i also found a few interesting snippets from the wikipedia page:

There is a legend about Queen Victoria offering a reward of 100 pounds sterling to anyone who could deliver to her the fresh fruit. Although this legend can be traced to a 1930 publication by the fruit explorer, David Fairchild, it is not substantiated by any known historical document, yet is probably responsible for the uncommon designation of mangosteen as the “Queen of Fruit”.

Mangosteens are available canned and frozen in Western countries. Without fumigation or irradiation as fresh fruit, mangosteens have historically been illegal for importation in commercial volumes into the United States due to fears that they harbour the Asian fruit fly, which would endanger U.S. crops. This situation, however, officially changed on 23 July 2007, when irradiated imports from Thailand were allowed upon USDA approval of irradiation, packing and shipping techniques. Freeze-dried and dehydrated mangosteen arils can also be found.

Since 2006, private small volume orders for fruits grown in Puerto Rico were sold to American gourmet restaurants who serve the aril pieces as a delicacy dessert. Due to the shape and feel of the fruits, they were promoted in parts of the US as ‘fruit grenades’. Beginning in 2007 for the first time, fresh mangosteens were sold from speciality produce stores in New York City for as high as $45 per pound, but, during 2009 and 2010, wider availability and lower prices have become common in the United States and Canada.

i should’ve smuggled that crate back home.