I believe the first bite into a perfectly ripe mango has three parts: first, a humbling, then a flood of nostalgia and, finally, a restoration of spirit. This is the power of a great mango.
They knock us off our pedestals. No matter how nimble an eater you may be, there’s a mango out there waiting to defy your hands and lips. Forego all politeness. A sticky mess awaits.
When I bite into one, I compare that initial sweetness to the tart and acidic flavors that build as I get closer to the seed. But I am also judging the mango in my hand against some elusive one I remember. I have a lot of room in my imagination for mangoes.
Great mangoes can elicit powerful memories. It takes a special fruit to ease the tension of a moment, connecting us both to a past season and to the promise of the next bounty. For me, the mango is that fruit. And the three recipes here (a salad, a dessert and a savory relish) give you something creative to do with your remaining mangoes — after you’ve devoured the first few you’ve brought back from the market.
Writing these recipes, as it is for all dishes that center mangoes, was a sticky business. Some ingredients are predictable, easy to control — but how little control we have over mangoes. Each is a surprise, shaped by the characteristics of its original region. There’s no homogeneity.
Some mangoes are sweeter than others, some are more fibrous. But the best ones are always ready to send juice dripping down your chin, buttery, tart, immediately transporting you to wherever you may have had your favorite: West Africa, Southeast Asia, Mexico and the Caribbean, the Pacific Islands, or some grove you know nearby.
I remember drives along highways in southwest Nigeria that threaded through mango groves, both sides lined with green canopies dotted with copper orbs. The leaves’ evergreen essence and the ripe fruit’s floral bouquet hung in the thick air. It took me years to build up the courage to bite into one after I moved to the United States. Growing up in Lagos, we would bite into them as a New Yorker bites into an apple, devouring them skin and all, right down to the core. But here, the skin of most fruit is not always considered a pleasure in the same way.
I had to learn how to eat a mango here. I came to embrace the technique I learned from friends: slicing off a bit of each cheek, and then working my way inward, cutting plank after plank, toward the seed.
Recipe: Mango-Tomato Salad
Throughout my career, I’ve resisted the urge to compare ingredients to one another. But if mangoes share anything with tomatoes, now coming into season themselves, it’s that the best ones bring unpredictable flavors. This simple salad, anchored by delicate greens and vinegar, will suit any style of mango, whether slightly under ripe or those that are much further along, creamy, sticky-sweet ones.
Recipe: Mango Shortcakes With Lime-Coconut Cream
If it is a mango’s sweetness that entices you, my mango shortcake will be your favorite. What better way to complement the crumbly texture of a great shortcake than a perfectly ripe mango, gently dotted with citrus zest and coconut toasted to enhance its fragrance and nuttiness.
Recipe: Mango Pepper Relish
The last recipe is for the end of mango season because your memory of the fruit shouldn’t be the only thing that lingers. This relish lets you savor it for at least another month or two, and will work well with anything from off-the-grill chicken, fish or to toasted crusts of ciabatta or focaccia.
My hope for you is that you will be inspired to stretch the mango as an ingredient, one that resists predictability. if you have great mangoes on hand, the moment is now.
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