Mango Mania, Part One
I ate my first mango as a ten year old, while spending the summer with relatives in Mexico City. Its bright yellow skin resembled some exotic canary. That cherry popping first bite into its sweet juicy flesh remains more vivid in my memory decades later than my first kiss with ol’ what’s-her-butt.
I returned home, and since then, have only bitter memories because I know how unbelievably good a mango can taste. How can I not be bitter, when the majority of mango cultivars imported into the US are flavorless fiber grenades like the Tommy Atkins variety?
Until now. The USDA will finally allow India’s famous mangos into the country. Indian food authority Madhur Jaffrey introduced NY Times readers to the mangos of her native land in an op-ed piece last year:
“The aim in India had always been to get sweet, melt-in-the-mouth, juicy mangoes with as little stringy fiber as possible… Whether you buy the sweet-and-sour pale-skinned langras of Varanasi or the intensely yellow, sweet dussehris of Lucknow or the satiny, heavenly Alphonsos of Ratnagiri near Bombay, what you will be getting are mangoes that man and nature have perfected together.
When these same mangoes entered Florida in the 19th century, they were mainly dismissed as ‘yard’ mangoes. Too soft for shipping, they were considered lacking in commercial qualities. So all the fiber that had been bred out of them over thousands of years was bred right back, giving America the hard, pale rocks we see in stores today.”
I’m like a little kid at Christmas over this. This week, I went to the Little India enclave in Artesia, CA and scouted out a grocer who’ll directly import Alphonso mangos in about two weeks’ time. He informs me that the bottleneck lies at the only irradiation facility in India that’s able to process them under USDA inspection. Unsurprisingly, there’s a ton of red tape involved. Because they’ll be airfreighted into the country, he expects a hefty price of $2 each, or about $25 / case.
In comparison, I paid $8 for a case of Ataulfos (aka Manila mangos, and sometimes by the brand name Champagne) this week. Ataulfos have until now been the best tasting variety available in this country, and their season in Mexico is under way.
I’m expecting the mindblowing mangos of my childhood, and perhaps setting myself up for disappointment, but I’m hopeful that Indian Alphonsos will live up to the hype. Stay tuned, readers, and I’ll let you know where to get yours in Los Angeles.
