Bogor Pickled Menteng

Baccaurea racemosa is a type of tropical tree fruit, which is thought to be endemic of Indonesia, and then would have been spread throughout Southeast Asia. The fruit of this plant has some local names, as Menteng, Kemundung or Engkumi.
This tree is commonly planted as a shade tree, and naturally grows close to swamps or ponds.
The fruit of Menteng is round and its color goes from yellow to brown; it contains seeds with a thin casing. The flesh can have two different colors: shiny red or purple.
Menteng is a seasonal fruit: the flowering season runs from October to December, while the fruit season occurs between January and March.
Usually eaten as a fresh fruit, it can be also processed into juice, be fermented or pickled. This last method of preservation is still common around Bogor, a city in the West Java province: after the harvest, some fruits are set aside to be pickled inside a container with a sugar syrup, palm vinegar and pepper.
After two or three days, when the fermentation process has ended, the fruits with the sour solution are placed in jars and kept in houses or sold in markets. The pickled fruits are eaten with rice dishes, at the end of a meal or as a snack.
Many people are unaware of the culinary uses of this fruit tree, using it only for ornamental purposes, and the pickling technique is gradually being lost.