India has two primary seasons: monsoon season and mango season—the latter of which falls for about 100 days between late March and June. This King of Fruits, as the mango is known, has long been the object of much love, envy, and status, and the allure is due both to taste and uncertainty: when the season hits, things go crazy.
A recent article in The New York Times offers a glimpse into the politics of India's mango season. People are "fiercely parochial" about mangoes, and almost every state has its own "mango jingoism."
Beyond parochialism, mangoes also have become yet another totem for the new Indian rich to keep score. Once, the Alphonso [a variety grown along the western Konkan coast] and other varieties did not begin appearing in markets until late March or early April. Now some growers are producing mangoes in February at prices that can approach $30 a dozen, compared with $9 a dozen or less at the height of the season.
Interestingly, for decades the United states banned Indian mangoes, and it was only in 2008 when India and the United States signed a civilian nuclear agreement that the U.S. agreed to allow Indian mango imports,. (Imports are still very limited.)
Read More: 100 Days of Madness as the 'King of Fruits' Is Celebrated Again at The New York Times
Related: How to Cut a Mango
(Image: Emma Christensen)
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I live in Toronto, and I remember hearing about "mango fever" for the first time last year, when it was reported that US mango fans were crossing the border into Canada to get access to the Alphonso mangoes imported by a number of grocers, especially those in the area of Toronto known as the Gerrard Indian Bazaar (http://torontoist.com/2011/05/king_of_the_mango/) - the Alphonso mangoes look different than the usual ones from Mexico ... perhaps the photo on this post should be changed to show the difference? I think I'll go and get some this week to see what the fuss is about, as I haven't tried them yet!
Personally I prefer that Ataulfo mango to any other mango. it is smaller but it is very sweet, has a smaller "seed" and ripens very quickly. At the produce market in Houston, I bought a box for $4
@SMOOSHMALLOW, those are usually branded as champagne mangos, and I agree that they're tastier. They're a little more tart.
But I also remember reading this article last year about issues farmers were having cultivating them, boo :( . I hope they don't become scarce!
i don't know what they have been branded in the US but i have tried champagne and the ataulfo mango but nothing comes close to the alphonso mango eaten on a hot summer day in India.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alphonso_(mango)
Ummm, not meaning to sound discriminatory or anything like that but this is one department in which Pakistan rules supreme. Sure, the Alphonsos are good as are the badaami mangoes (not sure how far they are exported) but if you have ever tasted a Pakistani Sindhri or Langra mango you will know how heaven (hopefully) tastes. The Sindhri is yellow with a thin skin, the most intense, warm, heady perfume and succulent, meaty flesh that tastes like the best summers of your life all rolled up together. I'm someone that rarely gushes but nothing, NOTHING, tastes like a Sindhri mango except the langra which with its thicker, green skin and a slightly tart but intense flavour comes in at a close second. Oh boy, do I miss home, especially in mango season! When you pass a fruit seller in Pakistan on a hot summer's day, the fragrance from his loaded mango baskets will be enough to intoxicate you. And that's before you taste the fruit :-)
There are 2 types of mango- ones that are sucked from top, and those that need to be sliced and eaten. Both kinds offer
their own joys and ecstasies.
Never had the Sindhri, but Langra mango (Indian or Pakistani, it hardly matters) is delicious. I live in Lucknow, in the Dasehari mango heartland, and mangoes of this region- langra, Dasehari, Safeda, Chausa- are pretty unbelievable.