This is a tamarind pod.
Inside, the pod has a paste-like brown fruit around its seeds.
It doesn’t look particularly appetizing.
The fruit is very sour, but not like a lemon. There’s sweetness there too. It tastes almost like Crystal Light powder. But more delicious.
You suck the fruit away from the seeds. They’re hard, and clack together in your hand, almost like heavy coffee beans. Delicious.
Intel is making my site more interesting by sponsoring my Mighty Life List over the next few months. This trip to Puerto Rico is adding a few more fruits to my 1,000 fruits list.
Mighty Girl 
Weird – I’ve never had one! Love the way you illustrated the story with photos – especially that expression!
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I love tamarind. It’s great to cook with, too, and you can make jewellery out of the seeds.
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Around here (Toronto, Kensington Market) you can get Tamarind flavored candies. My best friend LOVES them. I think they are the most disgusting things I’ve ever eaten. Oh – and also tamarind flavored roasted almonds.
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If you’ve had Indian food, chances are, you’ve had tamarind – it’s a main ingredient in the sweet chutney often served alongside a spicy minty green chutney, perfect with samosas, and other Indian snacks like pani puri…
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tamarind candies are pretty popular down here in southern california too – they seem to be especially popular when coated with chili powder. yum!
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Tamarind margaritas are delicious!
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Those seeds are begging to be turned into a creative project…
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As a Cuban kid growing up in Miami Tamarind or Tamarindo ice cream was always a welcome summer treat- you’ve taken me back!
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Lots of tamarind candies and tamarind water in Mexico. LOVE it, but it’s definitely an acquired taste. The texture is…interesting.
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Um, looks like dog poo.
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I remember watching the kids in Mexico eat this smushed between wax paper like some sort of sticky, organic acid tab.
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OH, tamarind! only my favorite flavor of everything, ever. (Tamarind soda is the bomb. Tamarind cupcakes are the most delicious thing ever, ever, ever.)
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Maggie, who makes the dress you have on. Gorgeous!
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I even meant to say “who makes the dress you have on?” Proper punctuation kids!
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My grandmother-in-law in Croatia dries the pods and then makes tea out of them. Tamarind tea is quite, ah, constipating as I can attest to. It also is very bitter. I don’t think you’re meant to eat them raw, but to boil the flesh down and make a jam out of it.
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My favorite thing ever said about tamarind comes, surprisingly, from the FDA, who deemed it “unfit for human consumption”:
Reason: FILTHY
Section: 402(a)(3), 801(a)(3); ADULTERATION
Charge: The article appears to consist in whole or in part of a filthy, putrid, or decomposed substance or be otherwise unfit for food.
HILARIOUS!
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Someone already mentioned it, but tamarind (or ‘tamarindo’) margaritas are really a reason to live all on their own. Yum.
I’ve never been to Puerto Rico, but curious if they have a fruit called zapote. (You can get in Mexico, at least.) You must try that fruit as well. If you have and I missed it…well, I suck. But the fruit is amazing.
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I just tried tamarind yesterday for the first time and blogged about it too! Delicious. If you need any fruit ideas, head to Brazil. I’ve been eating a new fruit every day for the past 3 weeks. The best.
Can’t wait to read about your diving adventure!
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FDA doesn’t like tamarindos? WTH?
Anywho, boil the pulp until soft, throw it in the blender with water, strain and add a little sugar to make delicious, fresh “agua de tamarindo”. You can also make a more concentrated version and freeze it to make popsicles.
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Tamarind is what gives A-1 and worcestershire sauce that extra special “what is it?” flavor kick.
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I looooove tamarind! This post is making my mouth water!
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Gosh. I prefer vegetables. Like, give me a brussel sprout any day.
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They actually make (or did make) a Tamarindo Kool-Aid powder for a while. I declared it one of the worst things I’d ever tasted upon first sip. Another day, though, after I’d been working outside, and it was ice cold, it was totally chuggable. Context matters, I guess.
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I grew up eating these as a kid in far north Australia! There was always a tree in the schoolyard or some neighbour kid’s yard where you were obliged to nibble them enthusiastically to be cool.
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Oh snap! Looks like you’re having a great time over here on my little island! 🙂 Am glad you have not stayed in OSJ and ventured out. Unfortunately, too many tourists stay there and think that is what the entire island is about. Which is foolish.
JP (and Maggie): We -definitely- have zapote here. Two kinds in fact. We use it (and like it) so much, we even have milkshakes of it! However, we call it mamey here. There’s regular mamey and mamey zapote.
Also, have you tried quenepas? I’m afraid i don’t remember all the fruits you’ve tasted, Maggie, but if you haven’t it, give them a try! They’re in season right now!
And the FDA can suck it, we’ve been eating tamarindos here all our lives and we’re fine 🙂
Also, before I forget: if you can, when you go back to OSJ, definitely go to the fortresses. Either El Morro or Fuerte San Cristóbal. Avoid La Perla (not because everybody there is bad, but, unfortunately there are some unsavory dangerous sorts there). And if you can, get a Coquà plushie for Hank! There our little tree frogs and they make them into plushies that have a recording of what coquÃs sound like.
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I fully believe that eating the most authentic food you can find is the best way to take in the land that surrounds you when you travel. I must find a tamarind now!
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My mom used to make us bean bags with the seeds. Fun!
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that pink of old san juan — you’re a lucky girl, you are. i hope you’re enjoying the hell out of your trip!
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Tamarind Margarita. The very best “flavored” margarita.
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As your commenter Kim said, it looks like dog poo. Or refried beans (what’s the diff?). Not sure I will be trying that any time soon.
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Very high in vitamin C.
Just a few short months ago, Nestle released fruit/ice cream bars in tropical flavors targeted for the Hispanic population (really) – they include the usual mango, pineapple, coconut (this is very good), but it was the first time I had seen a tamarind flavored ice cream treat! Worth trying Nestle Helado!
http://www.vpepr.com/news3.html
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My granny in Barbados had a giant tamarind tree in front of her house. We used to fight the monkeys and the ants for the pods when they fell to the ground and she would crack them open and roll them in sugar. We ate them as candy. Super tasty.
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In Barbados we boil them and make a nice sticky syrup.
I actually have a giant tamarind ball in my fridge right now. It’s a ball made of the ‘flesh’ of the tamarind that’s rolled in sugar and salt. Yum!
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mmmm I love tamarind!
Have you gone swimming in the luminescent lagoon yet?
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I just tried tamarind for the first time yesterday. Kind of a coincidence since I just read your post the other day about trying tamarind. I guess they come in different types, because the one I had was a Sweet Tamarind, which you can guess by the name, was sweet. Well, kind of a sweet sour taste. And the seeds looked different than yours too. They were kind of football shaped and brown. Although my fiance did say that the ones hes tried before were more sour, which is probably like the one you tried.
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