Mangoes

[Bux]

I've not spent enough time in the tropics to be a connoisseur (or snob?) of mangoes. My wife grew up in the tropics and has very definite opinions on the subject. Perhaps it is that reason that she has given up buying the  type of mango with which she is familiar from childhood and will now only buy the "Chamgagne" mangoes we find in Chinatown. It may not be that they are so much better, but that they do not disappoint. Their skin is yellow, not the red and green we are most used to seeing and they are rather flat and much smaller in size. To me they have a bit of a citrus taste so they are never cloyingly sweet. As with other mangoes, I have a hard time telling when they are ripe until I peel them. The first one we peeled was inedibly unripe although the color and aroma indicated otherwise. Perhaps it had just been too long since we had one to try.

[Tonyfinch]

From now through the summer the wonderful Pakistani Honey mangos are available in London. They are yellow,not green, and come with stands of silver and gold paper attached.They are only available through Asian shops and markets,never through supermarkets, and are incredibly cheap-£2 for a box of 6. By the end of August I will have gorged on them.

[John Whiting]

In London we don't get the variety of either mangos or avocados that are available in situ. (Of course I don't know all the ethnic shops that are scattered around London, and I may be quite wrong.) [edit: I should have read the above post more attentively.] The problem with all fruit, of course, is now the fact that buyers demand perfect appearance, which can only be guaranteed by picking and selling them underripe. Sometimes at the Chapel Street market in Islington my wife can get cheap overripe fruit which looks awful and tastes delicious. We've had mangoes you could eat with a spoon straight off the seed.

If you must have ripe fruit for a speciic purpose but can't buy it, one drastic solution is to take fruit that is mature but still hard and give it quick bursts of a few seconds in a microwave, checking for firmness after each burst. When the fruit is soft enough, put it in the freezer to stop it cooking further and take it out when it's no longer hot. It's not as good as the real thing but it's much better than rock hard -- after all, some of the changes that take place in ripening are like those that take place in cooking.

[Jaymes]

Funny how evocative the memories of a favorite food can be.  Reading about it, one can almost taste it again.

I lived in both the Philippines, and later, Panama.  In both locales, we were lucky enough to have mango trees either right in our yard, or across the street.  Cold ripe mangoes are wonderful, but the taste I most remember is green mangoes, with salt... tangy, wonderful.  A taste not recreated since I left.  Actually, hadn't even thought to look.  Now, I will.

[Suvir Saran]

Unripe Mangoes are my absolute favorite Jaymes.  I love them.  We find them on rare occasion at Foods Of India.  I love making all kinds of things with them.  Pickles, Chutnyes, An Indian green mango cooler, even use them as garnish to finish Bhel Puri.

Speaking of Mangoes, Liza, thanks for suggesting the Chelsea Market.  I found the best mangoes I have ever eaten in NYC yet, lying there yesterday.  They are good.

They also had some other amazing produce.  Great lemons actually.

What else do you buy thee Liza?

[sweetpea]

NYC Mangoes are bad at the very best.  I came here at the age of 12 and so I have been spoiled.  We had mangoes in Bangladesh, but the best came from India.  From Bombay and some even from as far as Delhi.

I remember Rabindra sangeet when I think of Mangoes.

The Mexican and other American mangoes do not compare at all.  They are not mangoes.  They have no flavor.  I must disagree with you Suvir.  I have yet to find good mangoes in NYC.

[Suvir Saran]

There certainly is no comaprison between what one can find in India and here.  To think otherwise would be silly.  I only meant that what I found at the Chelsea Market yesterday were good mangoes.  Are they remotely close to the Indian ones?  I would be wrong in saying they are.

Are you like me in never eating mangoes anymore?  I have not eaten mangoes, or shall I say enjoyed mangoes in a very long time.  It has been years.  Just a few weeks back when we were in Bombay, I ate several Alphonsos.  I am soooo lucky for having had that pleasure.  They are amazing mangoes.

[sweetpea]

I have eaten a few and had to leave them.  They are that bad.

Green ones I have never tried.

[anil]

NYC Mangoes are bad at the very best.  I came here at the age of 12 and so I have been spoiled.  We had mangoes in Bangladesh, but the best came from India.  From Bombay and some even from as far as Delhi.

I remember Rabindra sangeet when I think of Mangoes.

The Mexican and other American mangoes do not compare at all.  They are not mangoes.  They have no flavor.  I must disagree with you Suvir.  I have yet to find good mangoes in NYC.

Do not dismiss Mexican and Central American mangoes by tasting them in NYC  

Mangoes are indeed varied in India, and best near their local region of cultivation. The best langdras' do not make it past UP, or whatever the region is called these days, or for the matter dusseries. The best Alphonsos past maharastra etc. etc.

This is because of the distribution system forces unripe mangoes

to be shipped in not so efficient ways.

[sweetpea]

And I have not had better ones in Mexico either.  But I agree with you about the need for trying things locally before dismissing them.  

We got great Langdas and Dussehris in Bangladesh.  They came in cartons on a Bangla Biman and at times those prized Alfonsos.  They are what forms my dissapointment with NYC mangoes.

[anil]

......  They came in cartons on a Bangla Biman and at times those prized Alfonsos.

BG (Biman Bangladesh) has a very large and successful Cargo operations, so I'm not surprised about their delivering persihable goods in time.

[sweetpea]

Anil you are kidding right?  BG would have in my mind had the smallest such operation.  I am from Bangladesh but do not live in Disney World.  I know things as they are.  It is WORST airline possible.

I hope you were having fun teasing me.  If you know something I should about BG, please share.

Thanks.

[Lady T]

Welcome back, Suvir!

If you ever find yourself in Chicago, the most reliable place to look for beautiful ripe mangoes in season seems to be at the Hispanic-oriented markets. I have one such not far from my home, and am enjoying them often -- they're so lovely I don't do much in the way of preparation, but simply slice and serve.

[Suvir Saran]

I just realized that we had another thread on mangoes.

It was in the other thread that Vivin had shared the information about his favorite mangoes. I had been thinking that I was dreaming about him having done so. And now, after doing a search, many weeks later, I found it.

Here is the link

[Richard Kilgore]

I bought a flat of Mangos at a Vietnamese market today, intending to do some ice cream, sorbet and any other kind of frozen dessert possible in my freezer-bowl type ice cream machine.

So I am looking for recipes for those, of course. But what else can I do with mangos? What are your favorites?

[SuzySushi]

When people in Hawaii have "extra" mangoes, they make mango bread (use any standard quick bread recipe, like a recipe for banana bread, only substitute mango), mango muffins or mini-muffins, and mango jam. Peeled & cubed mango also freezes well for future use. And there are always mango smoothies and mango lassi.

[Milagai]

When people in Hawaii have "extra" mangoes, they make mango bread (use any standard quick bread recipe, like a recipe for banana bread, only substitute mango), mango muffins or mini-muffins, and mango jam. Peeled & cubed mango also freezes well for future use. And there are always mango smoothies and mango lassi.

←

there is mango fool.

mango slices replacing or complementing apple in a tarte tatin

or mango + peach in a pie.

lots of savory mango dishes: mango kalan (mango with spiced buttermilk);

mango kadhi (ditto, different spices);

mango raita;

mango souffle;

so many many ideas;

milagai

ps: if you have extra mangos, pl send them to me

Edited July 18, 2005 by Milagai (log)

[SuzySushi]

ps:  if you have extra mangos, pl send them to me 

←

I never have "extra" mangoes -- that only applies to people who have mango trees in their yards!

[Young2Cook]

I bought a flat of Mangos at a Vietnamese market today, intending to do some ice cream, sorbet and any other kind of frozen dessert possible in my freezer-bowl type ice cream machine.

So I am looking for recipes for those, of course. But what else can I do with mangos? What are your favorites?

←

We all have pity on you for being in such a dire circumstance and hope you hold up as well as can be expected!

The mango portion of this recipe got raves (actually the shrimp were pretty good too)

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/recipe_views/views/105002

/Deborah

[LCS]

I was born and raised in Hawaii and our neighbor's Hayden mango tree hovered over the property line... :D

The only things I really do with mangos on a regular basis are mango cheesecake and mango curd. I once made a mango/pineapple/lime sorbet from the Williams-Sonoma site and it was stellar. I ditto the mango lassi, but I also like it in milkshakes and shrikand. Even though I'm from Hawaii, I've never put it in a quickbread and didn't know anyone who did, but I'm going to try that this weekend! A pastry chef friend of mine made a mango poundcake.

Richard, I'm just curious: what kind of mangos did you buy? At the Vietnamese markets here in Philly, whenever they sell mangos by the flat, they're always Champagne mangos. They sell other variaties, but never by the flat...??? Don't get me wrong, I like champagne mangos, but just for eating (not in anything baked).

[freddurf]

I like to make mango salsa! Put it on top of some grilled Ahi and it is oh so good!

[Pan]

I don't have a recipe, but I do have a recollection of a dish that might give you a useful direction to consider. There used to be a Thai restaurant a few blocks from where I live that wasn't all that good but served one dish that was great:

Whole broiled red snapper with lime juice, cashew nuts, fish sauce, hot pepper, and ripe mango slaw.

I loved it every time and miss it. If only that restaurant could have cooked more dishes up to that level, maybe it wouldn't have gone out of business...

But in general, consider mango as an accompaniment to fish, especially if you add some sourness to it by adding lime juice or perhaps tamarind. The thing that made that dish at the Thai restaurant so great was the balance between sweet, sour, salty, chili, nutty, and of course the slightly carbonized protein of the broiled whole fish.

[RuthWells]

I bought a flat of Mangos at a Vietnamese market today, intending to do some ice cream, sorbet and any other kind of frozen dessert possible in my freezer-bowl type ice cream machine.

So I am looking for recipes for those, of course. But what else can I do with mangos? What are your favorites?

←

We were in NYC this weekend and ate a mango-shrimp dish at a Malaysian restaurant in Chinatown that was TDF. Sweet and piquant, and I couldn't begin to tell you what was in it! But presentation was fun -- it was served in a hollowed-out mango half.

[cakewalk]

There's a recipe on epicurious called Quinoa with Mango and Curried Yogurt that I've made several times, and it is very good. It was mentioned first by someone on eGullet (but I don't remember who.)

[Sandra Levine]

If you ask nicely, maybe Rachel Perlow will tell you how to make mango sorbet.