Saturday, March 03, 2007

The end of mango season

It's true, mango season is nearly over. Our mango man at the market said he picked the last batch off the trees 3 weeks ago, and he was hoping to have enough to last him till tomorrow at the markets. Other varieties have been a bit more prevalent, though I'm not convinced that they are as nice. Some are good, others are okay, relatively speaking, but regardless: they are all mangos, so they are all delicious.


I'll try not to repeat what I said about mangos here and here, which should be easy since we haven't bought Bowen or R2E2 mangos in a while.

This is a new variety of mango, and the mango man said they don't even have a name yet. Andy and I called them Piangos, because near the seed they taste like pineapple, and near the skin they taste like mango. The size was similar to the R2E2, though not quite as big as my head, and these were handsdown the sweetest, juiciest mangos I've ever eaten. The juice dripped all down our faces and arms, and the counter was covered with sticky sweet orange drips. This mango is one that I will be seeking out again next mango season.

This is the ngon-tan, a Thai variety with a small seed and non-stringy flesh. Yummy, but small and mild in flavour. Good, but not my favourite.

Dragon's tooth mango, similar to ngon-tan but a slightly different flavour.

Palmer mango, all frosty from the fridge. Better overripe rather than underripe.

Keat mangos. These guys were hard to tell if they were ripe or not, and they kept going half ripe-half underripe. We let some ripen fully, and then they were half-rotten. The same thing happened with the Palmers. Methinks that's why they aren't really for sale in stores. Bowen's are by far the most popular here (also called Kensington Pride), probably followed by R2E2 (flavourless in comparison), though I think the Piangos are where it's at. If you could buy stock in mangos, and if I had any money right now, I would invest heavily.

I'm very, very sad that tomorrow is likely our last day to buy fresh mangos at the market. After that, we'll have to survive on the hundreds of kilos worth we have in the freezer. Should last us about 3 weeks...

9 comments:

Vicki's Vegan Vice said...

wow, I didn't know there are so many varieties of mangos! Not sure what kind they have in Jamaica, but we'd eat our share everyday of honeymoon. Enjoy & thanks for sharing the juicy information! :o)

bazu said...

I'm mourning the end of mango season with you! My dream is to someday, somewhere, climb a mango tree and pick and eat them to my heart's content! That no-name one especially sounds so good! Purple skin- oh my!

vko said...

I am extremely envious. I love mangoes. Who knew there were so many yummy tasty varieties- I only thought there were two kinds.

Thanks for the mango education as my mouth starts to water...

Kati said...

Geez that's a lot of mangos. I guess it's true what they say - you could eat a different variety of fruit every day and still never eat them all.

Amey said...

Oh Dang!
These mango posts make me want to fly to a tropical island and eat mangos all day!!!! I love mangos so much, so creamy and juicy and yummy. I always feel a bit guilty though, knowing that whatever mangos I eat here in northern california have been flown in from half way around the world.

urban vegan said...

So sorry about he end of mango season, but take heart--we never even have a mango season in Philadelphia!

Theresa said...

It really is a bittersweet time of year--the last few mangos are sweet, but I'm bitter that we won't be getting any more :P

Linda said...

mango is my favorite. i can't imagine how amazing those must be considering your location!

Unknown said...

Hi. Do you have any more information about the "Piango" mango? Does it now have an official name? Its dark colour in your photo makes it look similar to the "Sensation" mango. Your high praise makes me very curious to try it except that I don't know where it might be available. Where is your "mango man" located?

Edward