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When a search on "mango" turned up many irrelevant results, we made our query more specific by searching on "eat a mango." A page called All About Mangos, published by London Fruit, Inc., offers a profile of the popular and appealing tropical fruit. There's a brief history of the celebrated tree, myths and facts, nutritional benefits of the mango, how to store and select a mango, and several ways to slice, serve, or eat one. You'll also find a pictorial guide to common varieties such as Tommy Adkins, Haden, and the buttery-gold Ataulfo. The skin of a mango is considered inedible, and the mango tree, Mangifera indica, is related to the cashew, pistachio, and poison oak. The milky sap and the wood of the mango tree contain toxins. Some individuals are allergic to contact with mango sap, skin, or wood. Because mangos come in a rainbow of reds, yellows, oranges, and greens, color is not the best way to determine ripeness. Sniff for a fragrant fruity odor at the stem end, or squeeze very gently to detect a firm yet yielding feel under your fingers. Mangos ripen best at room temperature. To accelerate ripening, you may place the fruit in a paper bag overnight. Then use the mango fairly quickly ¿- it will not have the optimal shelf life of a mango ripened slowly. On a site from the South African mango growers
association, we found abundant information about the fruit (the apple of the tropics) that is allegedly eaten fresh more often than any other fruit in the world. The site presents animations of four ways to eat a mango. A site from Jamaica defines the three-step process: wash, peel, and eat. There's more than one way to peel a mango -- start from the top down, unzipping the fruit almost as you would a banana. Or, use a knife to slice around the large central seed, as you would an avocado. Then divide the mango into two halves, and extract the seed, which can be lifted out from the flesh, with a little help from the knife. Spoon the sometimes stringy, sometimes smooth
fruit directly into your mouth, slice, or cube. A site from Australia's Northern Territory offers great mango recipes, from soup to main course to chutney to dessert. But, if it tastes delicious and the juice runs down your chin -- that's the right way to eat a mango!
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