August 2, 2007

Mangoes, Mangoes, Mangoes

As previously mentioned, it’s mango season and mangoes have been pouring in from the trees of various family friends. Now mangoes are not a cookie cutter fruit. They come in many different varieties. I confess however that I am no mango connessiuer. All I know is some have smooth seeds, some have very hairy seeds (which mom says they used to turn into dolls when she was a kid), and some are very tiny and pinkish in skin color. Beyond that I couldn’t tell you which physical type matches which name. I’m sure my readers can help me out on that one 🙂

What I do know is that the background mangoes in the above are the popular strain known as Julie Mango 🙂 It’s my favourite.

The mangoes in the foreground here are what my father says are called Doudouce They are really sweet but quite fibrous 🙂

Now I have a confession to make. Most people that I know love to rip into a mango at room temperature, and have the juice dripping down their arm as they gnaw away at the flesh. Apparently this is ‘bliss’ and to eat a mango any other way is to be missing out. Well I must be missing out cos I’ve tried to eat a mango that way once or twice and found it utterly miserable and underwhelming. No, for me a mango has to be eaten ice cold cut into slivers in an equally cold bowl with a cold fork. Sounds picky? Probably 😆 But that’s how I grew up eating it as a child and, as I think most of us would agree, these childhood habits and norms are the ones that play a major role in our culinary eccentricities throughout life 🙂

Excerpted From the Trinidad Express:

Make Mangoes Your Favourite Dish (7th July 2007)

MANGO… what could taste better than biting into the first Julie mango of the season? When I was a kid as soon as the mangoes started to get full everybody was making chow. Now I anxiously watch our tree for the first fruits to change colour. A chilled, juicy mango is my favourite treat while watching night-time television.

Mango is a true ‘comfort food’ because like papaya, mango contains a stomach-soothing enzyme. Mangoes not only make you feel good, they are great health wise because they contain plenty of fiber, vitamins A and C, and potassium. One large mango has about a hundred calories with no cholesterol and half of the necessary daily fiber.

There are over a thousand varieties of mangoes throughout the world. Trinidad has starch, rose, Julie, calabash, doodoo, turpentine, Graham, ten-pound, spice, grafted and others. My personal favourites are doodouce and calabash.

Green mango can be prepared into kutchela, chutney preserves, takari and amchur. Choose your favourite type and seek out a tree vendor.

Below are the words and music to a popular folk song extolling the various varieties of mango which can be found locally. I think it has been drummed into the consciousness of every school child of my generation 😆

Mangoes

Mangoes, Mangoes, Mangoes

Verse 1:
Mango vere, Mango teen
Mango vere, Mango teen
Ah want a penny to buy mango vert mango teen
gimme ah penny to buy mango vert mango teen
Mango doudou sou se matin
savez-vous all for me
Mango dou dou sou se matin
Savez-vous all for me

Mangoes, Mangoes, Mangoes

Verse 2:
Mango vere, Mango rose,
Mango Vere, Mango rose..
Ah want a penny to buy mango vert mango rose
Gimme a penny to buy mango vert mango rose

(thanks to Tennille for sending me the complete lyrics, a small soundclip can be heard here as well)