Mangoes Rule The Caribbean!

By: Allen Susser

My favorite time in the Caribbean is during mango season. I view mangoes as a national pastime in the Caribbean. Each village passionately claims they grow the best mangoes and every man, woman and child has their favorite.

Tropical fruits are one of the defining ingredients of the Caribbean. Mango, papaya, guava, pineapple, banana, tamarind, sour orange and passion fruit are universal to tropical cooking. However, the mango is king and reigns supreme, being the most popular of all fruit, for all the right reasons as I describe in detail in my cookbook “The Great Mango Book”.

The mango has melted into the cuisines, cultures and hearts of the people. The species name of the mango is Mangeferi indica, which means “an Indian plant bearing mangoes”. It is thought to have originated nearly 4000 years ago in the Hindo Berma region. Spanish and Portuguese explorers of the 15th century brought mangoes to the Caribbean. Mangoes seemed to island hop by themselves; finding fertile soil and warm tropical climate, cementing a home in the Caribbean. The mango has naturalized itself to almost every island and is particularly widespread in Jamaica, Cuba, Haiti, Puerto Rico, St Lucia, Martinique and Trinidad & Tobago. Often their names reflect the heritage of the fruit such as Julie, Graham and East Indian. Many of these original mango fruits gave seed to local varietals such as Mango Rose, Long, Coco-bef, Mangotine, Prieto, Toledo and Madame.

For many Caribbean nationals the mango is a comfort food, one of those comestibles that nourish both body and soul. Mango’s popularity can be felt in every aspect of local life and culture. The mango motif is used in textiles, paintings, jewelry as an everlasting sign of desire and plenty. In Jamaica, at peak mango season islanders proudly exclaim “turn down the pots!”, with loads of mangoes no one need cook at home in the heat of the summer night.

The mango tree represents abundance, giving and community. When the mango tree’s fruit ripen the yield is amazing. Frequently, hundreds of mangoes are ripe for harvest in early to mid summer. At first only 3-4 fruit ripen and are considered precious. Then within a few days there are 3-4 dozen ripening mangoes ready for picking, eating and sharing. In the full of season a family can pick 50-60 colorful mango on any given morning. Thankfully this abundance must be shared fresh, pickled (called souscaille in Martinique) or cooked into batches of jams or chutneys in many home kitchens to preserve the summer time ambrosia. Of course you need to watch for the neighboring kids who also feel that they have rights to grabbing a few of these succulent, lush, oval orbs to snack on.

It is important to understand the mango as a fruit. There are over 100 different varieties in the Caribbean. Each mango has a different color, name, aroma, texture and flavor. Our world of mango eating is made up of both delicious, mature green and ripe fruits. Green mango refers to the stage of a fruit’s ripeness, not necessarily the skin color. The green mango is crisp, crunchy and mildly tart. Tree ripening allows the mango to develop to its fullest, sweet, vivid, tropical ambrosia.

Mangoes are brushed with a tropical rainbow of color. The skin pigment is more of a beauty contest than a quality factor. The skin of mature mangoes are usually dull and matted. As the mango ripens and sweetens its skin color becomes more spectacular. Pale greens turn to sunset yellows, blush pinks to deep purple, multi colors turn striking red blush and crimson with bright yellow backgrounds.

Caribbean cooks use mangoes regularly, keeping it simple and delicious. The fruit can absorb spice, heat and fire with no loss of character, making it a natural for grilled, fresh, local fish. While at the same time the fruit can be icy and refreshing in a sorbet or mango rum colada. In cooking with mango it is important recognize the contrast that sweet and tart fruit offers when pairing with the other fresh ingredients. Cinnamon, coriander seeds, black pepper, clove, vanilla, cardamom, ginger and turmeric all marry well with mango in aromatic harmony. Use the mango”s natural fruity characteristics to bring vibrant flavor to your cooking.

How do you pick a perfect mango?

Mangoes can be large or small, green, yellow or gold, sweet or tart. Mangoes are consumed both mature green and ripe. Both are delicious but each have their different uses. So it is actually more important to ask – perfect for what use? For salad, dessert, marinate, rice, salsa, chutney, slaw, cobbler, ice cream, martini, mojito or fresh out of hand.

Mature green mangoes are eaten differently throughout the world. In Trinidad, they are often pickled or cooked into a sublime, spicy chutney condiment. In Cuba, the green mangoes are enjoyed fresh with a squeeze of lime and a dash of salt. To select the green mango look for fruit heavy for its size, firm without soft spots with a slightly sweet – tart tropical scent.

The ripe mango has a lush flavor that is sumptuous. Ripe, Graham mangoes with little to no fiber are often eaten slightly chilled and peeled for a simple breakfast treat in St Lucia. On the other hand Mango Chow is ubiquitous in the Caribbean, a sort of mango salsa with green onions, hot chili peppers, cilantro and lime. Ripe fibrous mangoes are juiced for their rich fragrant pulp. In Jamaica, it is poured over shaved ice dramatically called sky juice and in Latin juice bars blended into refreshing mango batidos. A ripe mango should be blemish free, with brightly colored skin tones. The flesh should give slightly to a firm squeeze and there should be the sweet scent of tropical ambrosia emanating from the whole fruit.

My favorite Caribbean mango is the Julie. Probably one the best and sweetest mangoes that I have ever tasted came from a very old Julie tree on the Anse Mamin plantation in St Lucia. It had a deep floral aroma with a pleasurable balance of pineapple and peach taste with notes of candied orange peel and a slight hint of cinnamon. The succulence made this Julie mango unforgettable.

About Allen Susser:

Chef Allen Susser is a James Beard Award winning Chef with a passionate commitment to local fresh ingredients.  The New York Times called Allen the “Ponce De Leon of New Florida cooking”. His landmark restaurant changed the way people ate in Miami forever, and affected how we all eat today. Food & Wine magazine named Chef Allen “One of the Best 10 Chefs in America”.

Chef Allen”s Consulting, is a boutique sustainable restaurant and hospitality consulting firm – providing strategic initiative, culinary resources, and innovative direction for the industry. One of his current projects is pioneering chocolate in St Lucia, West Indies.  His Emerald Estate Vintage Chocolate is a bean to bar authentically hand crafted Chocolate.

Susser is currently a spokesman for the National Mango Board and is a Culinary Ambassador for the Monterey Bay Aquarium for its sustainable seafood watch. He received an honorary Doctorate of Culinary Arts from Johnson and Wales University. And received the President”s Award for community service from Florida International University. He is the original author of New World Cuisine and Cookery (Doubleday, 1995), The Great Citrus Book (Ten Speed Press, 1997) and The Great Mango Book, (Ten Speed Press, 2001).