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Mango

A sumptuous, tropical delight that’s rich in antioxidants and sweetly refreshing.

Food Basics
Nutritional Know-How
Eat Up!
Kitchen Tricks

The mango is one of the most popular fruits in the world. In the tropics, it’s eaten with the same frequency that North Americans eat apples. If you haven’t tried mango fresh, you’ve been missing out on a nutritional taste sensation.

Food Basics
A distant relative of pistachio and cashew trees, the mango tree is an evergreen. Farmers cultivate more than a thousand varieties of mango trees in temperate climates around the world, including California and Florida, where the fruit is in season from May to September. Mangoes are picked green, but as they ripen, their thin, tough skins turn yellow, sometimes blushing pink or red. Inside, their sweet, juicy, golden flesh surrounds a large, flat, oblong seed. Ripe mangoes yield slightly to pressure and have a pleasantly fragrant aroma. Avoid those with no fragrance (they were picked too early), large black spots that indicate damage (small black speckles are fine — they’re a natural characteristic), or loose or shriveled skin. Many farmers of imported mangoes receive a low price for their fruit, so buy mangoes labeled “fair trade” when possible. You can also find mango nectar and purée, or dried mango in strips or chunks. 

Nutritional Know-How
Mangoes are rich in vitamins A, C and D and contain more carotenoids than almost any other fruit. Carotenoids are powerful antioxidants that support proper functioning of the immune and reproductive systems. Vitamin A is important for vision and bone growth, vitamin C helps with tissue growth and repair, and vitamin D helps ward off chronic diseases, including several types of cancers, type 2 diabetes, hypertension and heart disease. Mangoes also are high in dietary fiber, which makes them great for digestion.

Eat Up!
In Latin American countries, the Caribbean Islands and India, mangoes are served as a street-vendor snack and are added to salads and other sweet and savory recipes. Enjoy mangoes’ bold, rich flavors by eating them fresh.

• To bring out flavor, chill chunked mangoes with a wedge of lemon or lime. Or purée them with a splash of lime to make a delicious, brightly colored sauce for desserts.
• The mango’s cool, juicy flavor complements spicy dishes such as curries. Like papaya, mangoes contain an enzyme that helps to marinate and tenderize meats.
• Combine mangoes with bananas, papaya and pineapple to make an elegant tropical fruit salad, or add diced mango to your cold cereal.
• Top a slice of ripe avocado with a slice of ripe mango and sprinkle with a little sea salt for a delicious hors d’oeuvre.
• Blend mangoes and shaved coconut with yogurt. Drink up — or freeze your smoothie creation in Popsicle molds for a refreshing treat.

Kitchen Tricks

• If your mangoes are green, you can place them in a paper bag for a few days; the trapped ethylene gas will speed the ripening process.
• To cut a mango, slice 1⁄4 to 1⁄2 inch off both the bottom and stem tip. Then stand the mango upright and slide a sharp knife along the edge of the seed to remove one “cheek” of the fruit. Repeat on the opposite side. Then you can create thin slices and remove skin in strips.
• To cube: Hold one mango half in the palm of your hand. With a small knife, make a series of 3⁄4-inch slices through the mango flesh lengthwise (taking care not to pierce the skin), then repeat crosswise to create a grid pattern. Next, flip the scored mango half inside out so the cut pieces pop up in a convex shape. Then you can easily slice the chunks from the skin. 

Chef Cary Neff is the president of the consulting firm Culinary Innovations and the author of The New York Times bestseller Conscious Cuisine (Sourcebooks, 2002).

To learn how to prepare Mango Salsa and Warm Mango and Pineapple Tart, see the Web Extras! at the top right of this page.