subject: The Worlds Best Mangoes [print this page] In my youth I prided myself on being somewhat of an expert on mangoes. As we get older we get wiser: now I know I could spend the rest of my days in India, the cradle of the mango and die still not truly knowing the mango. Just for your information, mangoes are related to cashews- you might notice the similarity in shape. I had my first mango when I was 16 living in California. Like most of the weird fruits I ate, I dug into the mango solo. Strangely enough, it was not a Mexican mango but a Haitian variety- big, yellow, and juicy. I didn't know how to eat it and remember mango nectar rolling down my arms and getting all over the kitchen floor. It was delicious.
The best mango I ever had came from Miyazaki Japan. It was incredibly complex and from heaven- it was maybe the best thing I've ever eaten, period. I hear the Miyazaki mango is coddled from infancy into adulthood. When it is just right, it naturally falls from the tree and into a net. The fruit is handled with kit gloves from there. I also hear they are $50 US a piece, but I received two of them as a gift.
My biggest disappointment with mangoes was in Hawaii. Imagine my excitement when mango season hit and trees everywhere were heavy with fruit. But alas, the fruits tasted terrible. It was either the soil or perhaps wild mangoes just aren't very good- they must be cultivated.
They are dozens of cultivators of mango in India that the rest of the world has never seen. Hopefully some of these cultivators will reach Western plantations soon- goodness knows I've eaten enough of the peachy Mexican variety and the petite and tart Philippine cultivation to last me a lifetime. And don't think you can just go to the tropics and eat mangoes. They have to be in season and the season doesn't usually last long. If they are in season, you are in great luck as I was in Chiang Mai, Thailand. I ate them with the locals, both ripe and sweet and green, sour, with salt (which Thais seem to prefer). The true mango is an amazing thing that cannot be compared to that rubbery disappointment we usually find on the store shelf.
