Active Stocks
Thu Mar 28 2024 15:59:33
  1. Tata Steel share price
  2. 155.90 2.00%
  1. ICICI Bank share price
  2. 1,095.75 1.08%
  1. HDFC Bank share price
  2. 1,448.20 0.52%
  1. ITC share price
  2. 428.55 0.13%
  1. Power Grid Corporation Of India share price
  2. 277.05 2.21%
Business News/ Mint-lounge / Features/  Leave the mango alone
BackBack

Leave the mango alone

Why do the much-hyped seasonal desserts destroy the qualities of the fruit?

Avocado and mango salad with citrus dressing at Seven Kitchens, Mumbai. Premium
Avocado and mango salad with citrus dressing at Seven Kitchens, Mumbai.

The other day I went for a fancy brunch at a suitably fancy hotel. Now whenever I’m eating a buffet, especially in a restaurant known for its food, I always scout out the dessert section to know how much space I should save for later. And my heart sang when I saw a mini mango tart, a mango-and-white chocolate mousse and a mango cake. This is, after all, mango season which, according to me, is the best time of the year fruit-wise. The mango is undisputedly my favourite.

So I exercised control during the mains and starters—and bit into a world of sadness. Because the entire beauty of eating mangoes, from taking in its fragrance to biting into the firm but yielding flesh and savouring that nectarine taste unique to the fruit, was missing. It’s not that the desserts weren’t good: they were excellently prepared but did no justice to the fruit they were made with. Hell, you wouldn’t even know what mango had been used.

Which got me to thinking: Why would you take a fruit as delicious as the mango and disguise its flavours?

Don’t get me wrong. I love cooking with mangoes and make a mean mango cream pie. But, in my defence, it comprises chunks of mangoes topped with cream on a biscuit base. There are no added sweeteners or flavouring, and you get to taste the mango in every bite. Which is the whole reason for my taking umbrage to the butchering of mangoes. Why would you need to sweeten a fruit that is so deliciously sweet in itself? And if it’s not sweet, it means you really should be waiting a while longer before eating it. Not dousing it in sugar or pulping it and baking it into a cake with condensed milk. I cannot think of a worse disservice to this fruit.

Too many mango desserts, however, kill the joy of mango eating. Of identifying a mango by its shape, colour and fragrance. I abhor discrimination, other than when it comes to mangoes. There is something to that Katrina Kaif Slice ad, where she picks a mango off the tree and eats it. Even the sucking of the juice and the unadulterated pleasure on her face, has some truth to it. And when I heard that it was made by a Bengali creative director—a woman that too—I understood why.

It reminded me of when we were children in Calcutta (now Kolkata). We had the privilege of having mango trees at home and also mango orchards in the village, from where bushels of mangoes would be sent to our home in Calcutta. There was the supremely fragrant and tasty Langda, the Himsagar, the Shori, the reddish-hued Golapkhaas, Pyaraphuli, the long, green Phojlee, the light yellow-orange Bambaiya aam. And my favourite as a child, what we called the chushi aam, literally the “sucking mango". These were small, fat, slightly soft, absolutely yellow-skinned mangoes that fit into the palm of your hand. You had to squeeze them till you felt the flesh being pulverised inside the skin. Then you hacked off the top of the mango and simply sucked out the pulped flesh. Yes, it sounds a little crass but, boy, was it delicious.

When I shifted to Mumbai and Delhi, I was introduced to newer mango varieties, none of which seemed to match up to the mangoes I’d grown to love at home. But they attained a second-citizen position in my life. From the very sweet Hamam to the green Totapuri to the Chausa and of course, the artistically beautiful and aromatic Alphonso, which I like, but still consider no match for the Langda.

I’ve had Thai mangoes and African ones as well, and all of them have their own charm. This is one fruit that has so many varieties, textures and flavours, you would be amiss to not celebrate it in its original form. Innovate all you want in the kitchen and on menus, but don’t forget that the whole point of eating mangoes is that you can decide which one you prefer over the other—based on sweetness, smell and texture. And then chop it or slice it and bite into it and be transported back to more innocent and easier times. If there’s a fruit which makes a fitting case for the beauty of the past over the present, it is this.

Unlock a world of Benefits! From insightful newsletters to real-time stock tracking, breaking news and a personalized newsfeed – it's all here, just a click away! Login Now!

Catch all the Business News, Market News, Breaking News Events and Latest News Updates on Live Mint. Download The Mint News App to get Daily Market Updates.
More Less
Published: 23 May 2015, 01:05 AM IST
Next Story footLogo
Recommended For You
Switch to the Mint app for fast and personalized news - Get App