The mouth-watering taste of lansones

Last Monday was a holiday. I asked my daughters why they had no classes. They immediately replied it was Eid Al Fitr, the end of the Muslim month of Ramadan. They added that Eid al Fitr was like the New Year for the Muslims. So I told them we were going to celebrate the New Year by going around the city. Together with my brother’s grandchildren, we hopped into the car and drove away.

As we passed by Jaro Plaza, the children’s attention was focused on the fruit stalls beside the plaza.

‘Daddy, ano po yon?’. They pointed to the fruits.

‘Mga prutas - apples, oranges, grapes,’ I answered, without looking at the stalls.

‘Hindi. Yon pong bilog na brown.’, they countered.

My eyes were on the road. I was about to answer ‘Chico’ but when I glanced at the fruit stalls I saw mounds of lansones. Pieces of cardboard with words ‘Cagayan de Oro’ were stuck unto the lansones mounds. ‘Cagayan de Oro’ referred to the place of origin of the fruits. And to many, Cagayan de Oro was supposed to produce the sweetest lansones in the Philippines.

‘Ah, lansones,’ I told the kids. I asked them if they had already eaten lansones.

‘Wala pa po,’ the younger kids answered back.

So I parked the car near the stalls so we can buy some lansones.

The fruit vendors ran to my open window. ‘Lansones, Sir.’ Each one shoved a lansones to me. ‘Tam-is ni, Sir.’ All broke open a lansones in font of me. My mouth watered.

We decided to go to the stall with the most number of customers, a guarantee that its fruits were of good quality. It so happened that the stall’s lansones was more expensive. The vendor said it came from Camiguin, an island off Northern Mindanao, near Cagayan de Oro. 'Bag-o lang abot Sir,' the vendor enthused. As proof, she pointed to a few black ants crawling over the fruits. She said, Camiguin grows the sweetest lansones and that if we liked cheaper ones, she pointed to another mound which according to her came from Davao.

We settled with the ones from Camiguin. Ok lang kung expensive. Anyway, as the vendor weighed our purchase, the children had already eaten about a quarter of a kilo as patikim and paaman. They liked lansones.

We were eating lansones as we drove. ‘Be careful with the latex from the skin. It will stain your clothes and the seat cover,’ I reminded the kids.

‘Daddy, what’s the English word for lansones? How do you spell lansones?’. The children were now bombarding me with questions about the fruit, many I could not answer. So, I told them I would answer when we arrive in our place.

The first time I saw a lansones tree bearing fruits was when I attended a fiesta in Paete, Laguna. At that time the lansones trees were heavy with fruits. Bunches of fruits were sprouting straight from the main branches, and from the trunks near the roots. That is why I always associate lansones with the town of Paete, a picturesque wooded town with narrow streets nestled in the foot of the Sierra Madre Mountains.

Well, from the internet, the scientific name for lansones is Lansium domesticum Correa. It is spelled lansones or lanzones. There is no accepted English term for lansones yet. Its English nomenclature is just a phonetic derivation of whatever is its name in the place of its origin. So foreigners will just call it lansones because that is how it is called in the Philippines where it came from. The plant is found in tropical climates in Southeast Asia, South America and India. In the Philippines, it is grown in Laguna, Bukidnon, Albay, Quezon, Samar, Oriental Mindoro, and in some provinces in Mindanao and the Visayas. Lansones fruits are sold in fruit stalls starting August to October.

After awhile I called the kids to inform them about my new-found  knowledge about lansones. The kids seemed not interested as they were watching a kiddy movie over cable TV. I just shrugged.

So I went to where the kids placed the plastic bag of lansones. I reckoned, I can enjoy lansones even if I didn’t know its scientific name. I opened one and gobbled it. The sweet translucent pulp seemed to melt in my mouth. Some partitions have no seeds and I just crushed them inside my mouth and let the pulpy syrup ooze on my tongue. I lapped up all the tastes. The slight sourness  made me quiver. I opened another one and popped it in like a pill. And again let the tangy sweetness percolate in my mouth.

Then my daughter approached me. 'Dad, what is the spelling of lansones?', she asked.

Wiping my mouth, I answered her with hints of Shakespeare, 'Ahh... lansones, by whatever spelling, still tastes as mouth-watering.' And I opened another lansones to take pleasure in that mouth-watering taste.

Ti may lansones man sa abroad?@