Mangoes!

For all those that know me, know that I LOVE Mangoes! It is the one fruit of the year that I get really excited about. Seeing that first tray of mangoes available for the season is a joy in itself. In the midst of mango season, I will easily eat on average between 5 and 10 mangoes per day. When I'm hungry, I eat a mango, when I'm thirsty, I eat a mango, when I'm bored, I eat a mango. And the best way to eat a mango is raw, ripe and freshly sliced with nothing added - they are perfect just as they are.........that is until this season! and that's the reason for my post tonight.

Sadly, we should be in the peak of the mango season, they should be available by the tray full in all stores, shops should be filled with the scent of fresh mangoes.....but so far they aren't. I haven't been able to buy one for a couple of months now. But, you may say...."I've seen them in the supermarkets, tray fulls....." These, my friends, are NOT mangoes. They are not a true mango, but a modern hybrid variety known as Calypso mangoes, and that is all they are selling by the tray load to my disappointment.

To the average person who likes the odd mango may think that the Calypso mango is fine, but to me, who is a 'mango connoisseur', believes its taste is nothing in comparison to the magnificent essence of the Kensington Pride, or commonly known in QLD as the Bowen mango. This mango is superior in taste to all mango varieties. Its texture is juicy, its flavour is devine and its aroma is like perfume..... when my house is filled with this beautiful fruit, the essence fills every room. 

So this year as I walk through the shops searching for my beloved mango, all I have found so far is Calypso, honey gold and some other strange unheard of variety called Parvin....  So with this disappointment, I conducted a little internet research on the Calypso mango and was disheartened by what I found. 

Created only a few years ago by crossing the Kensington Pride mango with some other unknown Florida form of mango called 'red blush' or something a rather and creating this hybrid poor tasting mango now dominating the market known as the Calypso. Creating hybrid fruit is nothing new and is not always bad, but just like most modern fruit sold today is designed and marketed for all the wrong reasons.  

This Calypso variety is being haled as the 'new improved' mango to meet so called - 'customers demands'...
- as it has a higher seed to flesh ratio,  
- a constant yearly yield,
- a more cosmetic appeal with its pretty little red 'blush' cheeks' 
- has firmer flesh so that it can 'chop up' nicely
and most importantly.....dah dah dah, drum roll.....
- it has a high shelf life!
And that says it all!

So once again another exquisite tasting fruit such as the magnificent Kensigton Pride mango is getting the 'boot off' the shelves as undesirable because it doesn't look as pretty, yield as consistant and last for many months to export around the world all year round - with no concern or reference for the taste. As usual, the taste of the fruit is of no consideration or of any relevance to the marketing of the product with all concern to what will generate the most money. So in another few years we will adding the mango to the growing list of fruits that we will be saying..."oh, those mangoes in the shop just don't have any taste any more, they taste like rubber!"

Anyway, now that I have that off my chest, I will admit, that a Calypso mango, no matter how bad they taste in comparison to the Kensington Pride, is still better than no mango at all - I cant survive a summer without a few mangoes, so for the first time ever, I have been experimenting on some raw mango dishes. In the past I considered a mango used for any other purpose than to eat fresh straight out of the skin as is, was a waste, but if you are using a Calypso variety, then I am willing to add it to anything to improve its flavour.

Here is my latest simple and refreshing mango salad, great for these lovely 40 degree summer days in Kalgoorlie!

Simply dice a couple of mangoes into a bowl, add shredded fresh basil leaves, a handful of afalfa sprouts and drizzle with a little olive oil and lemon juice.

Simple raw summer mango salad

All that said, I know the first tree I will be planting on our 'space of love' when we move back east - actually, make that about 10 - the Kensington Pride mango so they will never be 'out of fashion' on our place.