Title: Selection and Eating of Mangoes
Categories: Fruit
Yield: 999 Servings

Selection:

Colour is not necessarily an indication of ripeness. The many different varieties can be green, yellow, pink, orange, or dark red when ripe. It is best to squeeze them gently; when a slight softness can be felt, this is a good indication that it is ready to eat, although some can be eaten like apples while still somewhat green. Full ripeness is indicated by the tiny piece of stem which remains on the top of the mango after picking. When this can be readily removed with your fingernail, eat at once. Some people prefer the slight tartness of the nearly ripe fruit, and others the fully ripe. When used in cooking, the tart ones are best.

: Eating:

There is a definite knack to eating mangoes. Two basic methods are used.

1. The bath method. Remove all your clothes, and climb into the bath, with a knife and the required number of fully ripe mangoes, and a garbage receptical alongside the bath. Starting at the top end, peel the mango skin downwards until it is all removed. During this process, you will drop the mango several times, and have to chase the slippery beast around the bath and/or your person. This results in the deposit of a layer of mango juice everywhere by the time you have eaten several mangoes. Then bite the flesh off the mango stone. The flesh adjacent to one edge of the stone will tend to be stringy to some degree, depending on the type of mango, and this will collect between your teeth, giving you the appearance of someone who has had a bad dental floss day! On completion of your surfeit of mangoes, you can easily sluice down yourself, the bath and the knife on one operation.

2. The fillet method. You may keep your clothes on for this one. Holding the mango vertically, stem upwards, cut the two fillets from the stone, with the knife following the shape of the stone as closely as possible. Peel the skin from the stone portion, and angle cut what fillets you can from the stone, or just bite the flesh off anyway (or give to the kids to bite off.) (Note the previous comments on dental floss.) With a sharp knife, make 3 or 4 diagonal cuts through the flesh on the side fillets, but not through the skin; repeat the other way, so you have a diamond pattern in the flesh. Gently turn the skin inside out, so the flesh separates into diamond shaped blocks lightly attached to the inside of the skin. These can be eaten directly from the skin, or scooped off with a spoon, or cut off and served with icecream of as part of a fruit salad.

Enjoy Mango Madness!

From: Glen Jamieson Date: 11-19-97 (11:19) The Once And Future Legend (1) Cooking

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