Some of my earlier memories
of growing up in Puerto Rico are peppered with a variety of fruit yielding
trees (sitting under them, running around them, carving initials on them, climbing
them, picking their fruit and savoring it).
My grandfather’s house had mango,
guava, lemon and jobo trees. One neighbor had a very fertile mango tree as well
as a palm tree – so I grew up drinking coconut water straight from the source!
Some of these, rather than planted,
ended up on the property wild. I understand that after hurricane season, they also
got oranges and even an avocado tree.
I always loved the idea
that I shared this experience of sitting under a mango tree, shaded from the
punishing sun, and eating a mango right off its branches with my great
grandmother. In fact, she told me stories of just such a thing when she was a
little girl growing up in the southern coast of the island.
It wasn’t until years later
that I realized that I probably shared the same experience with my paternal
great grandmother – except she would have been in the southern coast of the
Indian subcontinent, an ocean, a continent, and two seas away.
It made me love the mango
even more to realize it bridged my own multiculturalism. How cool is that?!
At any rate, there are over
a thousand varieties of mango and almost every market across the nation(s) sell
them year-round.
This is just a sampling of Hawaiian mangoes.
No matter what variety, when buying the fresh fruit, always purchase
the ones that are soft to the touch (with some give rather than hard). Squeeze
the mango gently and if it gives a little, it is ready to eat. That is what
determines ripeness. The stem will also have a sweet aroma when ripe.
If you find not yet ready
to consume mangoes, purchase them and keep them in a paper bag for a day or
two.
Mango can be purchased fresh,
dried (great in granola and for baking), in purée form, and even as nectar. Mango
products include jam, preserves, chutney, yogurt, canned pulp, and as an essence
for baking. Because the fruit is cultivated across the globe, you can find an
international array of recipes from appetizers and snacks, to main dishes, to
desserts.
As a cooking topic, we
could spend hours just gleaming through desserts! I want to suggest mango puree
as a condiment to keep at hand. You may purchase, but it is easy enough to make
and takes only a few minutes to prepare.
How to Cut a Mango
See the video here:
Mango Purée
Peel, pit and cube a ripe mango. Add about 1 tablespoon of sugar (or your sweetener of choice, like honey but a sweet enough pulp might make sweetener unnecessary) and a teaspoon of fresh lemon juice. Using a blender or food processor, purée all ingredients until smooth. Refrigerate. Keeps well refrigerated for 3-5 days.
Yield will vary as mangoes
vary in size and pulp. You may keep in a lidded jar or a squeeze bottle. Mango
puree takes to spices very well, but I suggest you add spice when ready to use
rather than make it spicy. That gives you more versatility.
A little vinegar and hot
sauce makes for a lovely, fresh and tart topping to meats, salads, ice cream and
fruit compotes. A squirt of mango purée will add a new dimension to your BBQ
sauce or cocktails.
Here is a sample of the
things you can do with your mango purée:
