Ripe fruit in humid climates is readily attacked by beetles and fungi, so mature fruit should be harvested and stored under refrigeration. Tamarinds may be eaten fresh, but they area most commonly used with sugar and water in the American tropics to prepare a cooling drink. The pulp is used to flavor preserves and chutney, to make meat sauces ant to pickle fish. Candy can be made by mixing the pulp with dry sugar and molding it into desired shapes. There are selected cultivars which have sweeter pulp.
None are presently available in Southern California.
Creative Resources Systems, Inc. 1987. Manual of Tropical and Subtropical Fruits . Facsimile of the 1920 edition. Here is the list of additional CRFG Fruit Facts.