Mango

Without question, one of the most enjoyable things about being in Southern India is the year-round availability of regionally cultivated, tropical fruit. Currently we are at the height of mango season and wherever you go, there are mangoes being consumed. Wiry men with bare feet push carts loaded with yellow ripe fruits around the neighborhood, restaurants tout their ‘fresh mango juice’, and visitors arrive with two or three large fruits in tow. This is the time, as many home gardeners know, that creativity trumps all as you struggle to find different ways to beat the race to spoilage. Just in the last week, belying our ‘rookie mango status’, we accumulated over 10 without even trying! Fortunately, we all like it…and it’s nothing like the other Mangos that we like.

I can remember my grandfather telling me stories about his time in the South Pacific when he was in the military, eating mangoes and reacting with a severe rash, which he likened to coming into contact with poison ivy. Fortunately, for Kaia and I, this allergic reaction was not passed along. If you have ever tried to cut a mango, they are not so easy to slice up, especially the ripe ones. After paring off the skin, you end up with all different sized strips or chunks and, as the large seed clings tightly to the flesh, you are often left with a sticky, juicy mess—perfect for a two year old with impatient hands and a love for fruits to amplify ever the more.

Yet, if you were to watch me finish off a mango after slicing it up, you might think that I was the toddler, considering how I suck and slobber all over the large seed, gnawing off what I think is the tastiest part of the fruit—that which has clung to the seed. Kaia has often watched me with the kind of look of disbelief that is reserved for children when their parents do strange and/or embarrassing things. There will be more of these looks, I am sure.

Why I Love this Time: A small stuffed animal cat, which he has named “Jaggie”.