Mango Madness : WMD : Washout of Mango Dreams ?

Mangoes are often a huge part of children growing up in the tropics. The unique shape, the vibrant colors, the exquisite flavour, and the mouth watering fruit pulp, hark back to summers holidays spent as children, running and playing in mango orchards, climbing and poaching raw mangoes, partially, for their tingling taste, and partially to irritate the guy who guards the place, somnolent on a hot and humid summer afternoon, trying to keep his eyes open, against a natural, understandable urge to take a nap under the spread of a 100 year old mango tree....

Over the years, marketing of mangoes has become commercialised , particularly in cities, where some children probably never get to see a mango tree. Reminds me of kids who think the cow has nothing to do with milk, but Safeway has everything to do with it.

India is the largest producer of Mangoes in the world. And to anyone who has tasted the Alphonso or Hapoos mangoes, it is a surprise that other countries are not clamouring for a bite of the same . Mangoes are being exported to European countries, and the Middle east, but so far the US was Alphonso-deprived, so to speak. The days of going ga-ga over non-Hapoos mangoes are now hopefully over.

President Bush , on a visit last year, to India, in the throes of some discussions about nuclear issues, shone some light , on what I like to call "new clear" issues; such as hapoos mangoes. Fresh from tasting the alphonso mangoes, he announced in a joint press conference, how Americans would now be eating Indian Mangoes in the summer ....

Turns out that the export of Alphonso Mangoes etc was to be subject to some kind of fruit radiation procedures before folks in the US got a slice of it.

History says that Mangoes originated in East India, Burma and the Andaman Islands , and Buddhist monks are believed to have introduced the mango to Malaysia and eastern Asia. Such was the quality of the fruit that Persian traders took it to he Middle East and Africa; the Portuguese, who were great seafarers, took it to the West Indies and Brazil, and by the mid 1800's Florida anmd California were enjoying mangoes....

20 million metric tons of mangos grow throughout the tropical and sub-tropical world.
Besides India, the leading grower, Mexico and China compete for second place, followed by Pakistan and Indonesia. Thailand, Nigeria, Brazil, Philippines and Haiti follow in order.

Mangoes belong to Mangifera Indica family, and are supposed to go back 5000 years. Specially cultivated varieties go back about 2000 years, and one of the Mughal Emperors , Emperor Jehangir, originating in the middle east, who ruled India in history is supposed to have declared that "Notwithstanding the sweetness of the Kabul fruits, not one of them has the flavour of the mango".....

Mangoes grow in different varieties in China, Africa, the West Indies, Hawaii, Mexico, Brazil, Malaysia, Indonesia, The Philippines, Thailand and California; Florida has its Kent, Keitt, Tommy Atkins, Haden -- all cultivated from "mulgoba'' saplings; but not one of these are a patch on the ambrosial Alphonso variety, someimes defined as nectar from the Gods.

As is often the case in old civilisations such as India, the entire tree is often part of the culture.

Mnago leaves are considered auspicious. On festive and welcoming occasions, it is the custom to string together mango leaves and blossoms and tie them across the entrance to the house ; this ensures that your house is blessed.

Whenever one goes to live in a new dwelling, a small prayer ceremony to invoke the Lord's blessing is performed, and a holy water from a copper vessel (which has presumably absorbed the cosmic prayers), is sprinkled in all the rooms, by dipping mango leaves in the water and then waving them across the rooms.

Mango leaves are used at weddings in rituals to ensure the couple bear plenty of children . Earlier the birth of the male child was celebrated - by hanging mango leaves outside the house; today, all children, male and female are so welcomed.

Mango stems are sometimes used for chewing and brushing teeth. The mango twigs are chewed, and the liquid that gathers in your mouth is spitted out, never swallowed. It is actually toxic. Similarly, burning of mango wood, leaves and debris is not advised - toxic fumes can cause serious irritation to eyes and lungs. As a result, in rural areas with old mango orchards you may see lots of local furniture made with, as they say, "mango wood". Cattle wandering across fields are never allowed to eat mango leaves. They have been known to kill livestock and grazing cattle.

As with most Indian fruits, the mango fruit has other uses besides being enjoyed as a fruit. The medicinal and other uses of the mango tree include having various beneficial properties , such as, anti-viral, anti-parasitic, anti-septic, anti-tussive (cough), anti-asthmatic, expectorant, cardiotonic, contraceptive, aphrodisiac, hypotensive, laxative, stomachic (beneficial to digestion)....the list goes on. It, however needs to be borne in mind, that to avail of all these benefits, implies eating the fruits along with a certain controlled lifestyle.

Something called Mangiferrin, is found in the stem bark of the Mango tree. Investigations reveal that splenocytes, which are contained in this mangiferrin, exhibit potent immunomodulatory characteristics - believed to inhibit tumor growth in early and late stages.

Every year around December or so, reports start trickling in , in the Indian newspapers, on the state of the Mango blossoms, whether they are plentyful, early, late, and what have you. Between December and February, is the magic period, where the trees get laden with the green mango fruit. It is still raw, scintillatigly sour, and children all across India can be found trying to climb the trees, climb on each other to reach the trees, or organising complicated stick and hook contraptions to pull the branches down; finally they resort to throwing stones high into the tree , to bring down a cascade of raw mangoes.

These raw mangoes are actually a separate fruit by themselves. Families collect together to make large quantities of "yearly" mango pickles, of various varieties and tastes, with and without oil, cooked, uncooked, and sun-cooked. Various kinds of jams are made . The skin of the raw mango, unlike the ripe yellow fruit, is very edible.

Some very healthful drinks are traditionally made from raw mango. The raw mango inner flesh is grated and cooked and pureed with sugar, cardamom and saffron. A couple of spoonfulls of this mixed with a tall glass of water , with a pinch of salt and a sprig of mint, is traditionally considered the drink of choice to be offered to a person who has just come in from the harsh midday sun Today, ice is of course added to this, to make the whole thing more tantalising; but even without it, between the raw mango pulp, cardamom and saffron, you had a healthy medicinal mix to ward off undesirable heat effects of the summer.

A wonderful relish that may be made with raw mangoes is in combination with onions. One onion and a couple of raw mangoes are grated ; salt, cayenne pepper, pinch sugar, a little bit of finely chopped jalapenos are added. A couple of teaspoons of hot oil, tempered with crackling fenugreek, and mustard seeds, with "hing" or asoeftida, and turmeric, is then cooled and poured onto the onion - raw mango mixture, mixed nicely. Onion is considered "cooling" in the Indian medical system.

This relish, is quick and easy to make, and is so wonderful, that there are never any leftovers!

Come March, and the fruit, ripened by plucking the raw fruit, and arranging it on straw beds in single layers, in the shade, starts arriving in the market. It is sold by the dozen, and also by the crate which often contains several dozens. Visiting the fruit market to see that year's fruit, is an artistic feast for the eyes. Mounds of fruit, of every shade of greenish yellow, yellow, orange, orangish red, lines the shelves, and there is a whiff and aroma of the season all around.

Back in the old days, when kings and noblemen had their own alphonso orchards, gifts of these mangoes were sent as a sign of goodwill and best wishes to the various other rulers and stuff. Sort of a PR exercise.

Today, the first mango display of the season, is often lapped up by todays maharaja's, the industrialists and business moguls, who probably rack up points simply organising mango crates for folks they want to be in the good books of. It is not unknown for state visitors to India to be presented with Indian mangoes; and today, notwithstanding occasional enimity, wars, and suspicious acts, the President of Pakistan sends Pakistani mangoes over to the Indian PM, and the act is reciprocated by the Indians, with the gift of the choicest Alphonso mangoes.

As April hots up into May , normal everyday people find that mango prices have reduced, and the children have summer holidays where mangoes are then enjoyed to their hearts content. (In India, summer is from March to June).

Mangoes may be simply cut and eaten, and the fleshy part sticking to the inner seed is never wasted. While licking and slurping while eating mangoes may be frowned upon by those who abhor getting their hands dirty (and would probably sue you for taking a picture of them with mango smeared around their lips :-)....), the actual way to eat the mango depends on whether its a juicy mango or not.

A weekend during summer holidays, it is usual for children visiting grandparents, to sit around a huge vessel, with a bucket of clean mangoes beside them, water glistening on the mango skins; bibs across the chests of younger children whose offer to "juice" the mangoes cannot be refused; and small napkins on laps of older kids, to discourage them from wiping their hands on their clothes (which they continue to do nevertheless). Each mango is softly squeezed all around, the little thing where the stem was is pricked, and the mango squeezed gently so that the nectar trickles out, slowly at first, and then , as the seed gets pushed out, tumultously. The sweet pulp sticking to the seed is added to the juice already extracted, and folks surreptiously sometimes blissfully lick their juice laden fingers, before wiping their hands, on the oh-so-boring towels.

Th collected juice is nicely mixed to a smooth consistency, and enjoyed by everyone at mealtimes. Almost every single day.

When you dont want to be so civilised, you actually eat the way the fruit was, maybe, always meant to be eaten.

The mango is cupped in the palms of both hands, lightly and uniformly , sort of pressed all around to loosen up the juices inside. The stem area is opened up a bit with your fingers, and the mango is pressed a bit more firmly, so as to see the sweet ywllow fluid emerging throiough the stem aperture. At this point, one simply sucks the stuff through this aperture, the skin tears across the area of the stem, displaying the mango pulp inside in all its golden fibrous glory. Once the juice is sucked , the remaining mango is eaten scraping the stuff across your teeth, and swallowing the wondrous stuff; and never mind that you get splotches of mango across your face doing that.

An ideal summer afternoon, is spent with a nice book, sucking away at mangoes, and then falling asleep , satiated with the sweetnness of it all.

Sometimes, things are best left to your imagination. Mango icecream, mango milkshakes, mango lassi (buttermilk concoction), the list is endless.

Nothing you say about the mango can ever be enough.

I thought the President had done a wonderful thing by allowing export of the Alphonso mangoes this summer. Then I saw a report in the Economic times saying, "Uncle Sam to miss Indian mangoes again".

(The actual report says : "Despite promises made by US President George Bush last year to end the 17-year-old ban on Indian mangoes, the US agriculture department does not seem to be in a mood to oblige. The department has laid down that exports from India could be allowed only after mango consignments are duly inspected and certified by a US official prior to being shipped.

While the condition may appear innocuous, it results in a cost escalation of an estimated $3 per mango for the exporters who are supposed to bear the transport and accommodation costs of the US official. This makes export of mangoes to the US unfeasible for India.

The Indian commerce department has taken up the matter with the US government asking for a relook. Meanwhile, exporters who were hoping to send their mangoes to the US this summer will have to wait for at least another year.)

(Speaking to ET, commerce department officials said the department has asked the US government to reconsider the condition as Indian exporters do not have enough margins to bear the travel costs of the inspector. "We do not have a problem with getting the consignments inspected by a US official provided they pay for themselves," an official added.)

Ah well. I knew there was a catch somewhere.

WMD ? It isnt weapons of mass detruction.

Possibly , Washout of Mango Dreams ?