Mango Growing up in Gringo America, I never knew what a mango was. Sometime ago in the last 10 years I tasted a mango. It was almost a religious experience...

They have to be at a certain stage of ripeness to be enjoyed. You pick them up, lightly squeeze them, Does the fruit yield a little bit when you squeeze it? Think of when you were a teenager and tried to kiss a girl who you thought did not like you, but then she did not move away, but yielded just enough to let you know she liked it, that sort of yielding. Ok, back to the fruit, if it is yields a little and is not stiff, it is probabally ready to be eaten. You look at the top, where the stem was connected, look for a little sticky spot, like honey had leaked out of it and dried. You put your nose to the fruit, is there a sticky sweet perfume smell? It reminds me of a 16 year old boy on a first date who has doused himself with Calvin Klein One.

I generally slice it up into sections and then put it on a paper plate.I've never figured out how to eat one and not get sticky-I accept it as an inevitability.

The taste is almost sinful, if it is perfectly ripe. Think of a valencia orange, and a georgia peach mixed together with a teaspoon of honey, and a squeeze of lime juice, and you have the perfection that is the mango.

Now get some floss, it is a very stringy fruit....
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