sampaloc (tamarindus indica), a photo from California, West

Photographer's Note

the tamarind is the only species of the genus tamarindus in the family fabaceae. it is a tropical tree, native to eastern africa, including part of the madagascar dry deciduous forests. it grows wild throughout the sudan but has now been introduced into most of tropical asia as well as latin america and the caribbean.

alternative names include indian date. in arabic it is called tamr hindi; in malay- swee boey; in tagalog-sampaloc; indonsian- asam jawa; bangla- tetul; sinhala- siyambala; telugu- chintapandu; tamil and malayalam-puli; kannada- hunase; malagasy- voamadilo; in thai- makham.

the fruit pulp is edible and popular. it is use as a spice in both asian and latin american cuisines and is also an important ingredient in worcestershire sauce and HP sauce. the pulp of the young fruit is very sour and acidic and is most often used as component of savory dishes like the philippines' sinigang. the ripened fruit is sweeter, brown to dark brown in color and can be used in desserts and drinks.

kingdom : plantae
division : magnoliophyta
class : magnoliopsida
order : fabales
family : fabaceae
subfamily : caesalpinioideae
tribe : detarieae
genus : tamarindus
species : tamarindus indica

information source: wikipedia

nb-the upper portion of the foto (greenish brown) are unriped version with white pulps- so sour; the bottom part (brown/dark brown), the riped one- so sweet!!
taken from the fruit and vegetable section of a filipino supermarket in the eaglerock district of LA.
a lens diopter-converter was used.

sadeik, stego, levocan, steveegg, rigoletto, salvator heeft deze opmerking als nuttig gemarkeerd

Critiques | Translate

stego (24132) 2007-02-01 21:27

Hi Benedict,
I am glad you go on giving us lessons about tropical fruits, ilustrated by savorous photos. You are a master turning these fruits into photos very vivid graphically.
TFS, Regards, José.

steveegg (418) 2007-02-05 13:00

Hi Benedict,

Another really interesting shot with good texture and shape. The eaten fruit with the teethmarks makes for a good point of focus.

Overall though, I find the muted appearance at odds with the exotic nature of the tamarind. The lighting is rather flat with few higlights and deep shadows.

rigoletto (34279) 2007-03-12 6:20

Oh my gosh!

These look like some chopped off, ehmmm.... you guess >:D

Therefore, one should be careful while trying to eat a sampaloc.

Now confess: You took this in the garbage of criminal autopsy, didn't ye? :D

Btw, very good close up and informative note. TFS,
Deniz da Menace

salvator (19110) 2007-03-13 4:44

Hi Ben,
When I first saw the thumbnail, I said oh no, he took a photo of intestines. This is so...
Enlarged, it took me some time and to read your notes to understand. The colors, the use of light is good and the subject interesting.I wish you an excellent week, best regards.
Salvator.

elherbz (0) 2007-05-26 15:13

Wow.U took a bite of the tamarindo!Lol