Tamarind (Macaam) and Rose Apple (Chompoo)

I've had some of the tamarind มะขาม pictures since the Petchabun trip where we bought them at the orchard. After the meeting in Petchabun, we drove to Ping's family's house which is also in Petchabun, about 40 minutes away. Ping took several us down the road to a tamarind orchard - above - where we bought three kilo bags of fresh, ripe tamarind seeds for 100 Baht (about $3) (below.) The link says what Thais have told me - the best tamarind comes from Petchabun.

Tootsie roll chewy

Tamarind dark, tangy taste
Hiding big brown seeds























These seeds look big, but remember, five or six are inside each 'fruit'. I'd say they were adult molar size. Imagine if we had dark brown teeth. Then everyone would think white teeth would look strange.

These are serious seeds, beautiful in their own right, begging to be used again. Necklace? Monopoly pieces? You could display a grain of rice on one. Or miniature toy blocks. Too beautiful to throw away. You could even plant them and grow trees. [Update: Click to see the seedlings we got from a few of these seeds.]











The Chompoo. A drink you can eat. So full of liquid fruit. Wet like a watermellon with the texture of a solid bell pepper. Cold Chompoo on a hot day. You couldn't ask for more.


The Chompoo , called Rose Apple by some in English. Chompoo (ชมพู่) sounds a lot like the word for 'pink' in Thai, but the tone for 'poo' is different.