Mango

Mangifera indica

Appears in

Published 1986

About

Imagine that you had tasted just one apple in your life—a Red Delicious stored beyond its time. You would have little appreciation for the mealy fruit’s truly delicious siblings, and little wish to purchase other varieties in future. If you have tasted only a bland, immature, fibrous mango and assumed it to be representative of the species, keep tasting. There are more differences between good- and poor-quality mangos than between some mangos and apples!

Mangos are considerably better known than apples in more than half the world, where they are a staple, second only to the banana and coconut. The fragrant fruit, a native of Southeast Asia, has been cultivated for as long as 6,000 years, according to some estimates. Asia still accounts for more than three-quarters of the world’s mangos, with India the main producer. About 15 percent of the mangos in our markets are grown in Florida, with the rest imported, primarily from Haiti and Mexico (new markets are opening up in Central and South America as this is being written). The towering evergreen mango tree, thick with shining, leathery leaves, offers both shade and sustenance. From its branches long stems hold clusters of fruits, cherry-like, that may be green-yellow-red (and shades in between) and range from a few ounces to a few pounds. The skin, smooth as thick glove leather, encloses yellow to red flesh that is softly moist and richly flavored, silky as custard or fiendishly fibrous, perfumed with pine and peach, or simply turpentine.