MANGO lovers?!

[sereia 0]

indian mangoes are here!!!!! i've been waiting for this day for over a year when i heard the ban was finally coming off.

for those who don't know, there are literally thousands of varieties of mangoes (mostly in india and apparently the most superior come from there as well) and the us has had a ban on importing them from india....until now! my indian cab driver told me about the release last week and i completely forgot to go buy some. i'm running now to find a box!

Indian Mangoes in America

New America Media, News Analysis, Sandip Roy, Posted: May 10, 2007

Editor’s Note: The arrival of the first shipment of Indian mangoes to the United States in 17 years has provoked delirious excitement in the Indian diaspora. But is an Alphonso eaten on the streets of New York as good as the memory of the one eaten on the streets of Mumbai on a long-ago sweltering summer day? Sandip Roy is an editor with New America Media and host of its radio show UpFront on KALW 91.7 FM.

Alphonso, the king of mangoes, has come to America. In the Indian epic Ramayana, Lord Rama spends 14 years in exile in the forest before he can claim his throne. Alphonso has had to wait for 17. The long wait is finally over. On May 1, 2007, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Mike Johanns welcomed the first Indian mangoes arriving through American ports. Legally. (I am not counting the undocumented ones smuggled in between layers of dirty laundry by innocent-looking gray-haired aunties.)

If the Alphonsos had come by last November it might have translated into a few extra Indian-American votes for President Bush’s party. Nixon might have gone to China, but Bush will be remembered forever by Indians as the president who said, “We look forward to eating Indian mangoes in America.” Nine words that ended almost two decades of homesick cravings. Along the way Bush also signed an India-U.S. nuclear cooperation deal, although some Indians feel that was just the side agreement to the mango deal.

The near hysteria in the Indian diaspora proves it. The community is practically in a state of fruity orgasm. “It dribbles down cheeks, lips, neck and hands and I am lost in dizzying joy,” oozes Prem Kishore in the weekly India Post. On the popular blog site SepiaMutiny, BengaliChick writes about mangoes as part of “a sensual body buffet.” SP says mangoes, chocolate and “maaaaybe southern Italian clams” are the only things that fall into the “Better than Sex” category. Janeofalltrades has some handy pick-up lines: “Hi, I’m Alphonso. Do you like mangoes?”

A community known for spelling bee prowess and a Booker prize or two suddenly has new bragging rights. “I used to believe that true mango lovers could sue American groceries for false advertising -- the tasteless, fibrous, tart and flavor-challenged fruit they sold did not deserve the name of mango,” former United Nations Under-Secretary General Shashi Tharoor told SAJAForum, the blog site for the South Asian Journalists Association. “Now we should urge every American we know to try a real Indian mango.”

Those are fighting words. I would have expected a suave multilateralist like Dr. Tharoor to be a little more diplomatic. Now I love my Alphonso, Himsagar, Kesar as much as the next mango connoisseur, but I am getting nervous. In our unilateral rush to crown our mango the “king of fruits,” we could be sliding dangerously close to Mexican- and Filipino-mango bashing. Those were the hapless fruits that most of us had to make do with until now. Could this my-mango-is-better-than-yours braggadocio end up stirring up interethnic tensions?

It certainly has sparked some intra-ethnic rumbles already. Even the Indians can’t agree on which mango is best. The first mango has barely been sliced and we are already hearing the rumblings of civil war. “The best mangoes are of course the basic Hyderabadi be-nishaan. This Alphonso craze, I just don't get it,” writes Shilpa Mankikar on the SAJA blog. “Alphonso may be adored in Mumbai, but in Lucknow they swear by Dussehri and Khajri. For my money, the Banarsi Langda far surpasses any variety,” asserts Pallavi Shah.

My head is already spinning. India has about 1500 varieties of mangos, including 1000 commercial ones. I feel like we are entering the surrealism of Mango Idol. Make that irradiated Mango Idol. It’s true. America wants the mango but not the mango weevil so the fruits are irradiated.

I hope that if the American market really takes off (and with the U.S.-India Business Council staging mango handover ceremonies, there’s obviously some serious mango-power behind it), it won’t mean that suddenly lucrative New York markets will suck the best mangoes away from the giant piles of mangoes on Mumbai streets that are the hallmark of an Indian summer. The New York Times already talks about Alphonso mango trees being planted in Mexico. Does that mean mango maquiladoras shipping crates of mangoes to the United States under the cover of NAFTA while the original Alphonso is shunned, perhaps one day even sued for copyright or patent violation? I remember the fights over patents on turmeric and Basmati rice.

I still haven’t delved into my first slice of succulent irradiated mango. There’s a part of me that’s too nervous to try. I savor that first mango of summer, its cold orange-gold flesh the only thing that made sweltering muggy days tolerable. The loss of that taste was in some ways the price of immigration. It lived on in our imaginations for decades. Now it might be available at Costco!

Sometimes I want to hold onto that sweet-tart taste I’ve lost and not think that with enough money (and irradiation), everything can be re-created.

This week I fly to India. This year, at least, I’ll be eating my mango there.

[LuzyC 0]

Oh I love mangoes!!!

Philippine mango (the national fruit) is known worldwide as the best tasting variety of Carabao mangoes in the world. Philippine mangoes have a distinct rich taste, no turpentine taste, not fibrous and high nutritional value compared to other cultivars. Philippine Carabao mangoes are available year-round but the best tasting fruits are those picked during the summer months. Filipinos who have grew up in the Philippines and now have migrated to the U.S., miss the delicious Philippine Carabao mangoes when faced with bland tasting mangos imported from Mexico. "Philippine mangoes" sold in the U.S. are from Mexico while "real" produce from the Philippines are marketed as "Manila Super Mangoes". Mexico is the world's top exporter of fresh mangoes cornering approximately 40% share of mango exports while India is the world's top producer of mangoes producing more than half of the world's mango output. The United States is the world's biggest importer of fresh mangoes.

Yields from a mango tree varies on the cultivar and the age of the tree. A ten year old mango tree can yield 200 to 300 mangoes while a 40 year old mango tree can yield 600 fruits. As a rule, the older the mango tree, the more fruits it bears in a season. Mango trees also have the tendency to alternate its fruit bearing. One side of the mango tree may bear fruits one season and while the other half of the tree bears fruit on the nest. Sometimes, the whole mango tree bears fruit this season and skips the next season.

Philippine Mango Industry:

The Philippines produces about 1 million metric tons of mangoes a year (3.5% of the world production) - 95% for local consumption & 5% for export -it generates about US$35 million annually for the country. In Asia, the Philippines is the largest exporter of mangoes. Hong Kong and Japan are the biggest importers of mangoes in Asia. Next to banana and pineapple, mangoes are the Philippines most important agricultural produce in terms of export earnings.

Products Made from Mangos:

Dried mangoes, mango juice concentrates, puree, mango juice, frozen mangoes, mango in brine, mango glaze and mango preserves.

Mangoes are cheap back home..it goes to 50 cents..it cost $2 when not in season..

I miss crunchy green mango dip with spicy sauteed shrimp paste!!! yummyy..

[pedroh 21]

ohh i love mangoes... in Mexico I lovee a variety that we call 'Mango Manila' which is a tiny yellow mango, veeery very sweet.. I LOVE IT!..

then they have the big red-green one, not as sweet, but good with chili powder and lime..

[sereia 0]

i LOVE dried filipino mangoes. they taste nothing like other dried mango i've had.

[eric&gen 0]

I miss Philippine mango's every time during our visit we would take a trip to the market every other day just to buy mango's and a few other items lol.

[broma25 2]

I love mangoes too, but I have never bought them myself until a few days ago. I ended up with a real mango mess as I had no idea how to cube it....

I will continue to try until I succeed because they taste so good.

[StarProg 0]

I went my whole life without ever eating a mango. Then I went to the Philippines, and had my first, now I can't get enough. Fely has several mango trees in her yard, which she sells for a nice sum to a distributor. Of course she keeps some for her family. She is from Zambales, which they say has the best mangoes in the Philippines, some say the world. Recently Costco has been selling a pack of mangoes which are very sweet, but not quite as good as the Zambales mangoes. I shall have to keep my eyes open for the Indian ones.

[Alex+R 0]

I hope the Indian ones come closer to the Brazilian ones. I'm dying here with these crappy mangoes. I always thought mango kind of sucked til I had it in Brazil.

[Jenn! 918]

I love just the regular old crappy magoes, so I'm sure I'd be a big fan of the Indian ones. I imagine you can't get them at the regular grocery store? I hope they have them at a fruit store...

[LuzyC 0]

Mangoes are cheap back home..it goes to 50 cents..it cost $2 when not in season..

I mean per kilo..and oh..indian mangoes is a lot cheaper in PI also..

[sereia 0]

for you jenn: (and anyone else in boston)

Patel Brothers on Moody St in Waltham is selling mangos (mangoes) imported from India. They currently offer the alphonso and kesar varieties.

[Jenn! 918]

for you jenn: (and anyone else in boston)

Patel Brothers on Moody St in Waltham is selling mangos (mangoes) imported from India. They currently offer the alphonso and kesar varieties.

Oh wow, thanks! You're certainly in the know about Indian mangoes!!!

[sereia 0]

been reading up on it! and i happened to see a post about where someone bought them in boston. lol

[one...two...tree 2,762]

When I think Indian Mango, I think of the name Jinky would call herself because even people in her own town thought she was Indian.

Have you ever dried green (unripe) mango?

[sereia 0]

no, never. i've eaten lots of green papaya though. yum som tum!