belimbing fuit

The bilimbi, Averrhoa bilimbi, L., (Oxalidaceae), is closely allied to the carambola but quite different in appearance, manner of fruiting, flavor and uses. The only strictly English names are "cucumber tree" and "tree sorrel", bestowed by the British in colonial times. "Bilimbi" is the common name in India and has become widely used. In Malaya, it is called belimbing asam, belimbing buloh, b'ling, or billing-billing. In Indonesia, it is belimbing besu, balimbing, blimbing, or blimbing wuluh; in Thailand, it is taling pling, or kaling pring.

In Haiti, it is called blimblin; in Jamaica, bimbling plum; in Cuba, it is grosella china; in El Salvador and Nicaragua, mimbro; in Costa Rica, mimbro or tiriguro; in Venezuela, vinagrillo; in Surinam and Guyana, birambi; in Argentina, pepino de Indias. To the French it is carambolier bilimbi, or cornichon des Indes. Filipinos generally call it kamias but there are about a dozen other native names.

Perhaps a native of the Moluccas, the bilimbi is cultivated throughout Indonesia; is cultivated and semi-wild everywhere in the Philippines; is much grown in Ceylon and Burma. It is very common in Thailand, Malaya and Singapore; frequent in gardens across the plains of India, and has run wild in all the warmest areas of that country. It is much planted in Zanzibar. Introduced into Queensland about 1896, it was readily adopted and commercially distributed to growers.

In 1793, the bilimbi was carried from the island of Timor to Jamaica and, after some years, was planted in Cuba and Puerto Rico, Trinidad, the lowlands of Central America, Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Surinam, Guyana and Brazil, and even in northern Argentina, and it is very popular among the Asiatic residents of those countries as it must be in Hawaii. Still it is grown only as an occasional curiosity in southern Florida.

The bilimbi is generally regarded as too acid for eating raw, but in Costa Rica, the green, uncooked fruits are prepared as a relish which is served with rice and beans. Sometimes it is an accompaniment for fish and meat. Ripe fruits are frequently added to curries in the Far East. They yield 44.2% juice having a pH of 4.47, and the juice is popular for making cooling beverages on the order of lemonade.

Mainly, the bilimbi is used in place of mango to make chutney, and it is much preserved. To reduce acidity, it may be first pricked and soaked in water overnight, or soaked in salted water for a shorter time; then it is boiled with much sugar to make a jam or an acid jelly. The latter, in Malaya, is added to stewed fruits that are oversweet. Half-ripe fruits are salted, set out in the sun, and pickled in brine and can be thus kept for 3 months. A quicker pickle is made by putting the fruits and salt into boiling water. This product can be kept only 4 to 5 days.