Mangoes. Oh, sweet mangoes!
Delicious memories of sweet and savory food (w/ Recipes).
Entree
The recipes included in this post are in the form of what I call ‘a recipe told’. A form of culinary storytelling in which recipes don’t follow specific measurements or details. In this style the transmitter shares the gist of it, and the receiver uses their creative abilities to recreate in their own way (memory).
I'm not interested in writing about food from a critical point of view. I feel like there's too much of that. Additionally, when it comes to food, I am mostly drawn to the memories it carries, the emotions it stimulates, and the connections it creates; whether with others or within ourselves.
Sweet and scary graveyard
In the community I grew up in there was a huge mango tree that supplied the best fruit in the world. When in season it would give birth to the sweetest of mangoes, and my friends and I would run towards it to eat as many as we could. They had the perfect texture when they were ripe.
With each bite you’d have their juices cascading down your arms and dripping all over your clothes. We would spend hours sitting under its shade, stuffing our faces with its flavors and smells. It just so happened that the tree was inside some land within the community, that happened to be the town’s graveyard.
To be honest sometimes I did not even want to go in, not just because of the many graves and spirits wandering around, but because we were all afraid of “El hombre sin cabeza”, who in reality was the graveyard’s keeper. However, in our little heads he was a “headless man who took children to the underworld.”
I never saw him up close, but whenever we saw a human shape other than ours, we would run out. Also, one of my neighbors from down the street hung himself on that same tree, adding to the list of fears in my head. But those mangoes were delicious, so we went anyway!
Coincidentally, years later I met this Headless Man. He was a real and very kind person, who also happened to be the father of a good friend from school. I used to work with him in a clothing store where I sold the latest in cheap men's fashion and he was the tailor.
When he told me that he was the guardian of the cemetery at that time, I told him about the mythology that my friends and I had around him when we were children. He confessed that he knew that he would see us sneaking over the walls and yet he never intended to say anything.
Sweetnets that elevates to a higher note.
Many years ago, my father had become fixated with planting a tree of something he called mangopiña, in our yard (don’t know the exact variety of this mango). As time passed, we had a tree that grew small, very sweet, yellow, and extremely juicy mangoes.
(Recipe #1) I never liked these mangoes (mangopiña) in their natural form, but my mom used to turn them into Limbers de Mangó (we put our accent to it). This is a type of popsicle that we prepare by making juices of tropical fruits, putting it into plastic party cups, and freezing it. The result is a frozen delicacy that is perfect for a hot summer day. You can also use other ingredients such as chocolate milk, or any other sweet liquid you can freeze.
(Sweet Fact) This treat is named after the first aviator in history who flew over the Atlantic Ocean, from New York to Paris, Charles Lindbergh.
According to some, when he visited Puerto Rico, he was greeted with such frozen treat.
Traditionally, this treat was accessible only by locals, and a few foreign exceptions, because they were sold from houses. Nowadays, however, tourists can taste them all throughout the island from supermarkets, gas stations, and even pharmacies.
One way to eat it is to squeeze the cup so that the limber comes out a bit and you suck or scratch the edges with your teeth. Or you can squeeze the cup, grab the limber with your other hand, flip it, and place it back (now upside down) in the cup to suck the bottom; which is where most of the flavor accumulates.
That mango tree still stands at my parents' house, and since its first harvest, local addicts have been drawn to its sugary nectar to elevate their trip. It has been such that when there are no more mangoes on the street, they ask for them. Not that this is anything to brag about, but elevating them even higher than any other mango they might have found elsewhere speaks to the quality of the fruit that grows at home. Just say!
Death and rebirth at a beach apartment
When I was a culinary instructor, after a class, my cooking partner and I were invited to a party at a beach apartment that same night, by a woman who had been to a few of our classes before. There was no payment, but it was an invitation to a party and cooking, and she said something about lots of alcohol, interesting people to meet, and ingredients for us to go nuts and show off.
(Recipe #2) We packed our knives, and drove to the coast where we met a beautiful hunk of beef. We had to come up with a recipe for about 20 guests. There were doctors, and well-traveled people, and business owners and such. After formalities, a few great conversations - and quite a few drinks - my partner and I came up with the idea of mashing and blending (by hand) a bunch of mangoes with cilantro and some seasonings.
I don’t remember the specific amounts or what were the other ingredients we used besides the meat, the cilantro, and the mangoes – or even what we accompanied the meat with. The amount of alcohol in my system, and the pain of experiencing the death my first ever Sushi knife, by a guy who let it drop on the floor, had me out of sync. But I bet there was salt, pepper, other herbs, and there is vague memory of finely chopped and mashed garlic.
After rubbing the meat with seasonings, we slathered it with the mango mix all around and dropped it in a gas BBQ for a few hours at a low temperature. During the cooking time, we basted the meat with more of that mango poetry and made sure that it wouldn't burn.
By midnight we were all eating a revitalizing meal that helped us regain our drinking spirits, and the meat with the mango sauce was the talking point for the rest of the night; and during other parties that followed at that same place. By the beach, listening to people, to the sounds of the kitchen, and to the waves.
More Sweet Facts (and link to other recipes)
The scientific name for mango is Mangifera Indica1.
It is estimated that there are over 1000 varieties of mangoes in the world, with 350 of them grown commercially.
Although mangoes are a fruit, the British rulers of India thought of ‘mango’ as a pickling technique. It is said that when they encountered mangoes for the first time, these were in the form of pickles and chutneys, and they started to include in their recipe’s directions on how to “mango” fruits and vegetables.
Here is a video I found from Mango.org, about mango farming in Puerto Rico, hosted by food storyteller and cook Clarissa Llenza.
The video includes two recipes. One for a Vegan Portobello Ceviche with Mango Chutney; and another for a Lentils, Mango, Avocado, Beets salad.
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What is your favorite way to eat mangoes? Leave your comments below!
Click here for the Spanish version of this post.
Ward, S., Clifton, C., & Stacey, J. (1997). The Gourmet Atlas: History, Origin, and Migration of Foods of the World. Macmillan.