Bex in Moz

You've been mangoed!

The mango season is upon us and it’s a cause for celebration. I feel I need to rectify the bad press I’ve been giving mangoes with my reports of mango flies. Let me clarify: mango flies are not related to mangoes in any way. They are known as mango flies because they appear at the same time of year as the mango trees flower. That’s all. So, back to the good stuff, the mangoes themselves.

This year, alas, appears to be a poor year for mangoes: many trees have none at all, others have few. Last year was a bumper crop – I’ve never seen so many mangoes, they rained down on excited children like, well, like ripe mangoes from a laden tree. Despite the poor show this year, I will still be eating as many as possible. Mangoes come but once a year, get your fill during November and December or you’ll regret it later.

I love mangoes. I love the small pink ones that come at the start of the season, a bit stringy but oh so sweet. I love the big green ones, with their firm, plentiful, dark orange flesh, great for eating and for jam too. Best of all I love the round yellow ones, fragrant and tart. I’ll eat all the others too: long, round, flat, small, large, stringy, fleshy, whatever, you give me a mango, I won’t refuse it. All of them are juicy, delicious, sensual, irrisistable, best eaten warm from the tree, with juice running down your arms and chin, or else mixed into a luscious salad with papaya from the tree in the garden, passion fruit from the vine over the bathroom, and the ubiquitous banana, seasoned with a squeeze of sweet green lime. (Can you taste it?)

And in case you were wondering...

... we have been internet-less for almost a week. Likewise the mobile phone network was all but non-existent for over 48 hours. It was a bit as if there had been a coup, but without the tanks in the street. (There has been no coup. Let me just make that clear.)

posted by Rebecca @ 2:17 pm