Have you ever heard of a Mangosteen?

I am back from my trip and had a great time! The answers to the jumbles in the previous entry are, crumble, ricotta, and muffins. Now, back to my title question - Have you ever heard of a Mangosteen? Recently, while I was watching an episode of Chopped, one of my favorite shows to watch on the Food Network, the Mangosteen appeared as one of the assigned ingredients. In case you don't know, Chopped is a show that selects four contestants who have some sort of culinary talent to compete against each other by creating a meal using different assigned ingredients. One of those ingredients is typically unusual. This episode, it happened to be the Mangosteen. And no, it is not related to the Mango. The Mangosteen is a purple fruit, the size of a small apple, with a white inside. It is both sweet and tart. Instead of peeling Mangosteens, you crack them open, kind of like a coconut. Mangosteens are mainly grown in Southeast Asia (you are most likely to find them here in an Asian market). The only place that the Mangosteen is grown in the US is Hawaii. Believe it or not it is illegal for you to have a Mangosteen tree anywhere else in the US. Apparently, Mangosteen rinds can be used to cure bladder infections if you put them in tea. The rind has also been used as a cream for skin rashes.