Forbidden Fruit

When you hear the phrase ‘forbidden fruit,’ I bet this image isn’t the first thing that comes to mind. Instead, pictures of luscious, dripping, ripe flesh flash before your eyes. But fruit doesn’t get more forbidden than these exotic fruits that look like an eggplant’s deformed half-brother. This fruit, the mangosteen, is actually illegal; at least when imported fresh into the United States.

However, we live in New York City. We can get $600 Prada handbags for $30, pirated movie DVDs for $5, and pretty much every other illegal substance you can think of. I think we can get our hands on some forbidden fruit. NYC Nosh visited Chinatown this weekend and did just that. Here’s what they had to say:

…the fruit is absolutely luscious. Inside the tough purple skin (pericarp) sit several brilliantly white wedges of edible fruit that taste a bit like a tangy peach, but with the texture of a ripe cherry. There are aromatic high-note flavors and scents at play here, as well, odors that call to mind passion fruits and blackberries. The pericarp is also edible and rich in micronutrients, but it tastes intensely tannic and unpleasant, so juice manufacturers often purée the entire fruit (skin and all) together and add sweeteners to make it palatable. If you’ve only tasted purple mangosteen juice, you’ve never really tasted the best part of the fruit.

If you’re curious on getting your hands on some of this delicious, illegal fruit, check out the open-air vegetable markets on Baxter Street, Mulberry Street, and at the corner of Grand & Chrystie Streets, where a pound of fresh mangosteens costs about $9 (4-6 fruits). But make sure you keep an eye out for the produce police.

via NYCnosh

Tagged: Food, Fruits, Mangosteen