Jan 17 2009
Mango Mania
One of the great things about living in Australia is that there is a wide range of fresh, delicious fruit available. Our favourite fruit at the moment is the mango.
The mangoes that you buy here taste much better than the mangoes I used to buy in the UK. They are very succulent and juicy with almost a spicy flavour. I guess the fact that they are grown in
Australia means that they reach the shops quicker than if they are transported across the world and so they are that much fresher when you eat them.
According to the New South Wales Department of Primary Industries, around 46,000 tonnes of mangoes are produced in Australia each year.
They are mainly grown in the sub-tropical areas of Australia, in Queensland, Western Australia and the Northern Territory, but I was surprised to learn that 3% of the mangoes produced are grown in New South Wales (NSW) – I wouldn’t have thought that the climate was hot enough in NSW.
A good way of eating a mango is to cut it into large slices and then score the mango flesh into cubes with a knife. You can easily eat the cubes, pulling them away from the skin of the mango with your teeth.
Last week, I cooked an Australian recipe from North West Queensland: Coconut Crumbed Fish with Mango Sauce. I didn’t coat the fish with breadcrumbs and coconut because I was short of time. I made the mango sauce as in the recipe and, although it did not taste bad, I did not think that the extra ingredients added anything special to the flavour. Next time, I will coat the fish and just use pureed mangoes for the sauce.
Does anyone else know of a great-tasting recipe using mangoes?
I unfortunately wouldn’t know about mango recipes as I have never eaten one. Sad, eh? I’m more of an apples and bananas person.
I have, however, had mango juice drinks and though my brother swears by Rubcon Mango, I think I prefer to stick with orange for now.
Dropped and sitehopped.
I’m jealous–that fish with mango sauce recipe sounds delicious. I’m afraid neither of those ingredients are too plentiful here in Germany!
Mango’s are amazing! in South Africa they are a far more common (and affordable) delicacy than here in the U.K. Hope you find more recipes!
hindleyite - That’s very sad! I’m sure that they sell mangoes in Manchester even though it’s far from the tropics! I prefer eating a mango to drinking the juice.
jenniferlprice - Yes, it’s a shame that mangoes are not so widely available in Europe and, when they are available, they are expensive and not very fresh!
yogimama - It sounds like South Africa has the same availability of fresh and affordable mangoes as Australia. I’ll keep searching for recipes!