What's the deal with mangoes?
To learn more, try "The Great Mango Book," by Allen Susser (Ten Speed, $16.95), a guide to buying, storing, eating and cooking more than 50 varieties. Fifty varieties? In fact there are hundreds. Mangoes, it turns out, are the most popular fruit on Earth.
Unfortunately, according to Robert Schueller of Melissa's, the country's largest distributor of specialty produce, Americans have access to only a fraction of the world's mango bounty. The most common in the United States is the Tommy Atkins, large (12 to 24 ounces), reddish-orange, undistinguished of flavor and very fibrous of texture. Any other mango will be more satisfying than a Tommy Atkins.
Our No. 2 mango is the Ataulfo, sometimes sold under the brand name Champagne. Smaller (6 to 12 ounces) and ripening from green to yellow, the Ataulfo is the rare mango that has a true season: from early February through November. It is fiber-free and entirely delectable. (Haiti produces a more fibrous cousin of the Ataulfo, called the Francis.) At No. 3 we have the Keitt, big (20 to 26 ounces), fiber-free and characterized by the odd habit of ripening from red to green. The Haden mango is almost as big as the Keitt, ripens to yellow and red, and, as I can attest from this morning's breakfast, is moderately fibrous. Another bruiser, the Kent, is fiber-free but so rare that I have not yet found one.
People are also reading…
All of these mangoes are imported from Mexico, Central and South America, where they are considered about as exotic as apples. This explains why a Latin American market is a great place to shop for mangoes. The newest mangoes on the U.S. block are from India. The Alphonse show up in April and are now giving way to the Kesar mangoes, which will run through June. There is little difference between these two fiber-free mangoes. Indian markets are good sources.
To tell if a mango is ripe, feel (it should yield to gentle pressure, like an avocado) and smell (it should have a discernible aroma) are your best guides.
Leave an unripe mango on the counter and give it a few days. To speed up the process, place it in a paper bag with an apple; apples emit ethylene, a gas that promotes ripening. When the mango is ripe, refrigerate it.