Mango

A 4,000-year-old fruit

Mangoes have been cultivated in the Indian subcontinent for at least four millennia. The fruit appears in early Sanskrit literature, in Buddhist records, and in stories of the Mughal emperors who maintained orchards of tens of thousands of mango trees. Akbar planted the legendary Lakhi Bagh near Darbhanga, said to contain 100,000 mango trees.

Family relations that may surprise you

Mangoes are in the family Anacardiaceae — alongside cashews, pistachios, and poison ivy. The skin and unripe flesh of mango contain urushiol, the same compound that causes poison ivy rash. Most people are unaffected by the small amount in mango skin, but some sensitive individuals develop contact dermatitis.

A drupe with a twist

Mangoes are drupes — single-seeded fruits where the seed is enclosed in a hard, fibrous endocarp (“the pit”). Slicing a mango requires working around the flat, oblong stone in its center; the most common technique is to cut along both sides of the pit, score the flesh into cubes without piercing the skin, and invert the half (the “hedgehog” cut).

Ripeness signals

A ripe mango yields gently to pressure (like a peach), has a fragrant stem end, and sometimes shows a slight wrinkling of the skin. Color is variety-specific — a green Kent or Keitt may be perfectly ripe, while a yellow Ataulfo just hasn’t peaked yet.