I love going to the market. Particularly markets that have fancy stuff… A well ordered fruit display it is always impressive. Neat, even rows of apples, pears, plums and the like. But it the “fancy” fruit, the exotic fruit that draws my keen interest. Fruits that look like Dr. Seuss had “invented” them. Fruits that have peculiar names, irregular shapes, bumps and spines. Fruits that are probably a “throw back” to the Late Cretaceous. And besides, how the hell are you supposed to eat them? I just love it.
What constitutes “exotic” is up for interpretation. And fruits that were one time thought to be exotic are now mainstream.
When I was a kid a mango was exotic. Today? It is part of the “regular” fruit display settled in with the Gala Apples, Bosc Pears and Red Flame Grapes.
Ask each of my kids to rank their Top Ten favorite fruits and Mango places high with each. Number One with Zack, Number One with Shaina & Number Four with Suzy.
But it should also be noted that when Suzy went to Nicaragua for two weeks to help build a school, she lived in mean circumstances with a local family… their cottage was surrounded by mango trees… but sadly, the mangoes weren’t quite ripe, and what would have been a satisfying snack remained beyond her reach. Before leaving she was able to have a mango from a neighbor’s tree… she attests that it was the best she ever had… and the highlight of her culinary experience there (if you discount the iguana stew).
I love mango, too. When I was a kid, Mommie Soph would buy them for our home from Margie’s Market (New Haven’s “Designer” produce seller). I would cut away sections of the fruit, skirting the bothersome pit, or stone (which was far bigger than required, as far as I was concerned). I would rip the sweet succulent fruit from the skin with my teeth… and then finish the job by reversing the skin on the back of my hand, so that my teeth could scrape the remaining portions that had escaped the main attack.
Two things were a lock… I would be sticky from doing battle with the mango, and Mommie Soph, patient from her observation post, would take that recalcitrant pit and strip it of the remaining slivers of fruit, the way a vulture treats a carcass on the Serengeti.
As a side note, modern technology has produced a mango “de-pitter” (or de-stoner). Sandy bought one for us. It looks like a torture device used by Theodoric of Yorke against suspected witches. But it is effective (it might even be effective against suspected witches, too).
Anyway… I loved the fruit. Mommie Soph loved the pit: we were quite a team.
Maybe this was a family thing. Perhaps there is a genetic marker that shows a predisposition to liking mango. Further evidence of this is my Sister, Lynn. If there is a “mango gene”, then she has ten to my one.
There was a day, not too long ago when we were sitting in the den in Stamford watching some TV. If it was my choice it would have been Shawshank Redemption. If it was hers it would have been Texas Hold ‘Em Poker (I find this, by the by, as improbable as Mommie Soph watching Friday Night at the Fights. Which she did…).
Lynn had a prized mango, a sharp knife and a quantity of paper towel (and maybe a bath towel). I wasn’t sure whether she was going to eat it, or operate on it. But my attention was elsewhere… probably on Shawshank.
But when I next glanced to Lynn… there she was… spent peels in a neat pile, face wet from the sticky fruit and small shards of mango on her glasses, on her cheek & on her sweater.
It was like something from Tom Jones, with Squire Weston having grizzled pieces of fatty meat dripping from his hair.
I offered to bring in a garden hose to wash down the room; but she politely declined.
But yes… I was proud! It did a family proud! That mango didn’t stand a chance! It was engaged with a direct descendant of Sophie Fleischner!
Mangoes… exotic? Not for our family! Just a “walk in the park.”
LYNN’S RECIPE FOR MANGO
Ingredients:
1 Mango
What you will need:
1 Bowie Knife or a machete or a Samurai sword
1 Roll of Bounty
1 Plush towel
1 Canvas drop cloth
1 Roll plastic sheeting
1 Safety goggles
2 Boxes of Handi-wipes
1 Container of floss
The Prayer Before Eating:
We give thanks to Thee who hast provided us bounty in the Garden of Eden and also in Connecticut… We praise the graciousness of the tree that has yielded its juicy progeny. Mango: You don’t know who the Hell you are dealing with.
Eating:
Eat at your own speed. Loud sucking and slurping noises are not only allowed; but they are an indication of joy and fulfillment. Making a mess is also a good thing.