Mango Mango Mango

My father grew up in Kenya, with a mango tree in his garden, and would often tell my brother and I how much he loved this fruit.  Occasionally, he would find one in a green grocers, and bring it home for us to try.  Invariably, it was disappointing, overripe and tasting of petrol, and I didn’t understand why he liked them so much.

Fast forward to my first trip to Thailand, aged 19, which coincided with mango season, and I finally understood what all the fuss was about.  I discovered juicy, fragrant, yellow mangoes and hard green mangoes eaten as salad or with chili and salt.  My Thai friend, normally so patriotic, told me that although Thai mangoes were delicious, Indian Alphonso mangoes were her favourite.  Sadly I left Thailand before they arrived in the markets, so I didn’t get to try them.

A few years later, on a trip to Singapore, I finally tried what is considered to be the world’s finest mango, the Alphonso.  It was like no other fruit I had ever tasted, so juicy it’s almost entirely liquid, with a perfumed, honey taste, almost like incense. 

When we moved to our current house, we started visiting nearby Tooting to buy food from the many Indian shops that line the High Street.  Imagine my delight when I discovered that every May, the shops are full of Indian and Pakistani Alphonso, King and Kesar mangoes, sold in boxes by the dozen.  Since then, May is mango month in our family, and we eat them until we can’t eat any more.  They make great baby food (see pic above), ice cream, salsa, smoothies, you name it, I can find a use for them. 

On our round the world trip we will be spending a few months in Thailand.  Happily, we will be there in mango season.  I have no worries about any of us going hungry.

 

This post is part of Photo Friday at Delicious Baby. For more pictures, click here.