Manngan Saipan ka'u aloha
That was my attempt at writing a Hawaiian style ode to the local mango. I know, I know, it's basically the first lines of a thousand Hawaiian songs.
I do so love the local mango. I love it more than manggan carabao or the Hayden mango. Some people prefer carabao mango - I'm not sure if they prefer it for the flavor or because it has less fiber than the local mango or for both reasons. I do enjoy carabao mango and I don't have a tree so it's always a treat when I can get my hands on some. But I find that they are too purfumey for me and I just plain prefer the more intense flavor of the local mango. Dealing with the more fibrous local mango is really not an issue if you know how to peel and cut them.
As a kid I preferred to eat my mangoes green (unripe and sour) and pickled as koko or dipped in "salt". Now I prefer them ripe or toa; toa is basically an almost ripe mango - still firm, but the sugars have already begun to develop.
I love local mangoes. My friend the Beachcomber has written some great posts about Saipan's mangoes, here is the most recent one.
On Saipan we have two seasons, rainy season and dry season. But my favorite season of all is mango season.
~~~
Do you read my other blog, Ayorátá? I'm starting a weekly feature there that I hope will inspire your creative side. Please have a look, I hope you'll play along.
Thanks for the shout out, Deece! This was a yummy season for mangoes, wasn't it? Gonna have to get some of your jams when the season is good and done!
ReplyDeleteMy pleasure! Your posts are always so informative. I love making jam. I wish we could afford for me to quit my day job and focus on jams and other endeavors full time. I made pineapple jam! It's delicious if I do say so myself. I'm working on pictures.
ReplyDelete