One evening wandering around Kandy, Sri Lanka, Rob and I noticed a small juice shop. I’d been wanting to try a Wood Apple juice, the pulverized beverage of a sweet and funky fruit with a flavor like tamarind cream cheese. We ordered our drinks and sat down in the corner of the busy shop to wait.
Suddenly, a green bucket swooped out of a square hole in the ceiling above the payment counter. Without missing a beat, the juice guy pulled out three glasses of different colored liquid. He put the empty glasses in the bucket, shouted something, and the bucket zoomed out of sight. Rob and I started laughing. We’d heard of hole-in-the-walls, but holes-in-the-ceiling were something new!
Wood Apple is the English term for the Limonia acidissima, also commonly known as Elephant-fruit or Monkey-fruit. In Sri Lankan Sinhalese, its called divul, but has many other names in the more than 30 languages spoken in India. It’s perfectly round and varies between the size of a baseball and a softball. The shell is hard enough it could probably be used that way. The interior is filled with a soft brown mush dotted with flat light colored seeds.
The odor of the Wood Apple lingers only in the mottled shell, which looks like a moldy dinosaur egg. The first time I ate it, I didn’t connect the sour smell left on my hands with the fruit. Only after eating it a few times and noticing the lingering odor of the men’s locker room did I even think to lift the fruit to my nose and take a whiff.
It’s certainly not as aromatic as a durian, but possibly more unpleasant. Sour feet and blue cheese come to mind, but without the exciting promise of durian’s heavenly custard. Ayurvedic medicine believes wood apple is cooling and a good balance for pitta doshas, those who already have a fiery temperament. Instead of eating mangosteen with durian, why not pair two stinky fruits together?
Regardless of the smell I enjoy Wood Apple, especially when its blended with jaggery or dates into a frothy, creamy drink. Sweet and sour with a hint of funk, Wood Apple juice is a delicious afternoon snack, especially when served from the ceiling.
Here’s a video of the bucket action:
Thaneswar Upadhaya says
I am from Nepal and I would like to promote this product wood apple. I have sufficient stock. Can anybody help me out.
Regards,
Thaneswar Upadhaya
Lindsay says
Kandy was better than a lot of places I can think of, as long as you don't get on the buses.
fruitarianvagabond says
thats amazing you can Walk around in Kandy…what about your freaking respitory disease? Kandy was a freaking smog pit….i remember jogging around that lake inorder to eat more durian back in the emotional eating excercise addiction phase of my life.
Lindsay says
Glad you enjoyed the hole-in-the-ceiling, it sure was fun to be there! Rob and I have been mashing them with dates to sweeten a little 🙂
Mark Wiens says
Hole in the ceiling, that's beautiful. I wish I would have found this spot in Kandy, but missed it. Wood apples are so wonderful, I couldn't get enough of them when I was in Sri Lanka!