How to Eat a Mango

Mangoes are the most eaten fruit on the planet - and with good reason. They're sweet, fragrant, chock-full of vitamins and oh-so-juicy.

They're also among the most difficult to eat because mangoes have big pits, are a little stringy, sticky and well-adhered skins.

So how exactly do you get at the succulent flesh of this tree borne tropical fruit? How do you eat a mango?

There are several ways. The first step, however, is to determine what you'll be doing with the mango, what you have available and how desperate you are to get the fruit in your belly.

The Rookie Technique. Many people, when they attempt to eat their first mango, peel all of the skin off with a knife or potato peeler. This creates a sticky mess and tends to sour the experience - despite the mango's sweetness.

The Peel 'n' Eat Technique. This is the next step in most people's mango development and is much less messy - until the end, that is. Sink a knife to the pit and cut around it so your incisions quarter the mango. Don't try to pull the flesh from the pit - you'll get juice everywhere. Rather, lift a tip of the skin on one of the quarters and gently pull it back until it comes off. Then eat the mango meat you just revealed. Since you're not pulling all of the skin off at once, you'll be able to keep your fingers relatively free of tropical stick-um. Until the last quarter, that is. At that point, the only thing to hold onto is the pit.

The Island Technique. In the Caribbean, it's common to see mangoes eaten outside and without utensils. Natives have their own special way to eat a mango, and after a little practice, it's not all that messy. They set a mango on a hard surface, apply some pressure and roll it back and forth. This juices the mango in its skin, thereby loosening the flesh from the cover. Then they bite a piece off the top and suck the sweet nectar out. After that, they rip the skin open. Since the skin is loosened, it becomes a wrapper you can hold the fruit in as you eat. An alternative method involves totally juicing the mango, drinking it, then discarding both the skin and the pit.

The Porcupine Technique. This is a great way to get chunks of mango for appetizers or other recipes. First, cut two pieces off of the thick, oblong pit. To do so, stand the mango up on its thick end and determine where the widest part of the fruit is. The pit is (obviously) in the center and is about an inch thick. Cut a slab off the widest part, trying to come as close to the pit as possible. Then, to the same to the other side. Pick on of the slabs up and hold it skin side down in your palm. Then, carefully cut several lines in the fruit - first one direction, then again at 90 degrees. The trick here is to cut down to the skin but not through it. Once you've cut the deep scores, place thumbs on opposite sides of the mango rim and push up from the bottom with your fingers. This inverts the skin and the fruit pops up in individual cubes. Simply cut them from the mango skin and enjoy.

The Hollow Out Technique. Instead of deeply scoring the mango slabs (as in the porcupine technique), simply use a spoon to scoop the flesh out. Or, if you prefer, use a melon baller.

The Disk Technique. This is a great way to get long mango cross sections. Like the porcupine technique, stand the mango up, large side down. But instead of cutting close to the pit, in this technique you will cut it close to the outside edge. Since the skin remains on, each piece will be stable. After cutting disks from both sides, gently pull the skins off and enjoy.