Mango Madness

Oh no, not another mango post! Well, what can I say, we have been eating a lot of mangoes around here.  Can you believe I just learned how to cut the thing properly? Seriously, how did it take me so many years of island living to learn this important skill?  


Actually, I am not too surprised it took me so long to learn the cutting technique considering that prior to moving to St. Croix, I don't think I had ever eaten or maybe even seen a mango in the raw? Embarrassing, I know. I remember trying my first taste of the magical fruit here and not totally knowing if I should eat the skin or not, just kinda hung back and watched others before I dove in. 


Today I will share with you my newly acquired knowledge of how to cut a mango, for snacking. When cooking with mango, I cut it a completely different way. We do it two ways around here, the civilized (clean) way and then the other way, which is really messy, depending on the ripeness of the fruit.


So here is the first way we cut the mango, the way we do it at home when a knife is handy. I thought I knew how to do this and then yesterday I realized I was constantly cutting into the tough seed in the middle of the fruit. My knowledgeable island boy husband then revealed to me the key fact that I must cut along the long end of the oval of the mango, like so. Of course, wait to cut  the mango until its ripe or feels soft to touch, about the softness of a ripe avocado.

Repeat on the other side.

Then pick up the slices and scoop the delicious fruit out with your teeth, using the skin as a bowl and a way to keep fingers clean, but don't eat the skin.

Finally, peel the center and eat all the goodness left around the seed you wish.


The next way we eat mangos is how we do it when out in nature with no knife in sight. Simply start at the top and pull the peel down all around leaving the skin intact at the bottom of the fruit so there is a place to hold the fruit without getting your hands covered in mango juice.

Then devour. 

Be careful, your face might look like this after eating a mango this way (smile included). Trust me, its inevitable.

I am sure this is probably old news but to most of you but for some, hopefully, the lightbulb just went off as it did for me yesterday. 


Hope this helps so next time you are in the islands you will look like a professional and not embarrass yourself as I did by trying to eat the mango peel. And please don't think I am stingy, I would mail you all mangoes but the USDA doesn't think it's a good idea and if they got smashed en route, it might result in a huge mess by the time it arrives which really wouldn't be fun for anyone.


Sending mango love to everyone.