Mangos

[Nimrod103]

Am I missing something? Under pressure from the wife I bought two fresh whole mangos from Lidl last week. They were as hard as cannon balls.
Today they are no different.

Is there a secret to ripening them at home, or are they sold to be used as a weapon rather than for eating?

[James]

Am I missing something? Under pressure from the wife I bought two fresh whole mangos from Lidl last week. They were as hard as cannon balls.
Today they are no different.

Is there a secret to ripening them at home, or are they sold to be used as a weapon rather than for eating?

The smallest measurable unit of time is the period a mango does its phase change between rock hard, perfectly edible, and slimy mush.
Even theoretical particles discovered at CERN have a longer half-life than that.

[Dod101]

I think you ought to keep them for a week or two. I love mangos but there are many different types. When I lived in Hong Kong we used to get the most wonderful mangos for about three weeks or so, around Easter time. They were from the Philippines and were a clear bright yellow, the skins as well as the flesh. Absolutely wonderful. I have never found them in this country.

I have bought mangos probably in Tesco and they can sometimes be quite good but they need to be just a little soft.

Dod

[88V8]

Am I missing something? Under pressure from the wife I bought two fresh whole mangos from Lidl last week. They were as hard as cannon balls. Today they are no different.
Is there a secret to ripening them at home, or are they sold to be used as a weapon rather than for eating?

If this were a civilised country it would have a National Mango Board where one could learn all one needs to know about this sugary fattening fruit...

V8

[doolally]

Am I missing something? Under pressure from the wife I bought two fresh whole mangos from Lidl last week. They were as hard as cannon balls.
Today they are no different.

Is there a secret to ripening them at home, or are they sold to be used as a weapon rather than for eating?

You were instructed by your wife to buy two mangos. You complied with that instruction, your job is finished.
Over to her
doolally

[swill453]

Am I missing something? Under pressure from the wife I bought two fresh whole mangos from Lidl last week. They were as hard as cannon balls. Today they are no different.
Is there a secret to ripening them at home, or are they sold to be used as a weapon rather than for eating?

If this were a civilised country it would have a National Mango Board where one could learn all one needs to know about this sugary fattening fruit...

Only about the same sugar content as, say pomegranates. A bit more than apples and bananas and a bit less than grapes, but all in a pretty narrow range.

Scott.

[redsturgeon]

I have found local ethnic greengrocers to be a much more reliable source of ripe juicy mangos than supermarkets.

John

[UncleEbenezer]

Hard fruits in general can be used indirectly. Chop it up and bake or stew it for dessert use - maybe with cooking apples. Or if you have a juicer, drink it.

[johnstevens77]

Having eaten the most incredible mangos during my 45 years working overseas as a chef, I find decent mangos almost impossible to find in the UK and just will not buy them. Having said that, I did buy some from one of the two Turkish shops in Exeter a couple of years ago and they were well worth the rather high price. The tastiest mangos in my opinion are Alphonso mangos, I used to buy those from greengrocers in Southall 35 years ago when living at home between jobs. Alphonsos were banned in UK a couple of years ago due to some disease or whatever, I have no idea if they are once again available. I first ate Lamu mangos in Mombassa in 1972, delicious.
Also in Mombassa, the avocados were so good and so cheap that they were almost given away.

john

[Humpty]

Alphonso or Kesa Mangoes are probably the tastiest and are available in the summer months. I would not bother buying mangoes in the off season unless you like sour ones.

[servodude]

Am I missing something? Under pressure from the wife I bought two fresh whole mangos from Lidl last week. They were as hard as cannon balls.
Today they are no different.

Is there a secret to ripening them at home, or are they sold to be used as a weapon rather than for eating?

Keep them at room temp in a paper bag with a couple of ripe bananas and let the ethylene do its magic - if that doesn't work after 3 or 4 days then put them in a curry?!

If you are to use them as weapons best bet is to collect the oil from the skin (grater/mashing?) and apply it to your victim.
It's only the skin you need (there's a completely different allergen in the fruit flesh which is generally much less risky) and it's down to them being related to poison ivy; if you get the dose right they won't know what's burnging them a few days later

The skin and tree sap are sufficienly high in urushiol that you have to be very careful when dealing with then as a crop - there's normally some released at a bit of pressure from the stalk when you pick them so gloves and glasses are recommended. If you need to work on the tree itself cover well up


-sd

[Midsmartin]

I think the trick is to buy them in supermarkets when they are reduced, as that is often when they are best.

I did buy some on our local market that the stall holder had bought, noticing they were just right.

Probably fruit ripens at home better in the summer when it's warm.

[Hallucigenia]

Alphonsos were banned in UK a couple of years ago due to some disease or whatever, I have no idea if they are once again available.

It wasn't a disease as such, it was infestations of a particular kind of whitefly which is a bugger for carrying viruses, and it wasn't just mangoes, it was various produce from India that included aubergines and taro. But the ban was only for a few months.

[UncleEbenezer]

Having eaten the most incredible mangos during my 45 years working overseas as a chef, I find decent mangos almost impossible to find in the UK and just will not buy them.
john

My experience can't rival yours, but on the basis of my brief experience in Oz many years ago I'd agree with that. Never encountered anything in Blighty that could hold a candle to a mango in its native environment.

[Fluke]

Buy a big bag of frozen cubed mangos from Costco. You'll have mango whenever the there is the need and they'll last for ages.

[Eboli]

At the moment in Bangkok the fruit stalls that sell prepared fruit are selling trays of unripe mango slices with sachets of chilli sugar. The fruit is refreshing if somewhat tart if eaten without the sugar. Evidently it is the season for eating mangoes * in this unripe state. I was informed that ripe (soft) mangoes become available after songkram (the water festival marking the first crossing of the overhead sun, normally in April). I also learned that there is an equivalent to Som Tam - that delicious Thai salad made with grated under-ripe papaya - made with these hard mangoes, which I have since tried and can confirm is also delicious (though next time I will ask for less chilli!). The preferred mango used here is Nam Dok Mai (with light yellow, almost beige, skin), which I understand is also the mango used when slightly riper to eat with sticky rice as a sort of pudding.

None of this, of course, is perhaps relevant to purchasing mangoes in the UK, though I would add a vote to Fluke's idea above to use frozen cubed mango, which I have always found sweet, fragrant and delicious!

Eb

* I think this is the correct plural