Summer and India. Those two words don’t usually play nice together. However, once you get past the unbearable heat, there is something to be said for this particular season…
ITS MANGO SEASON!
When I was growing up in North Carolina, I thought I knew what mangoes were. Mangoes were those delicious fruits that were shipped up from Florida once a year. Right? Wrong.
Mangoes in India are an entirely different beast. Even in off seasons, restaurants have staple beverages like thick mango nectar, mango milkshakes and mango lassi. In season however, the sheer abundance of mangoes is a sight to see. To celebrate the onset of mango season, Jeremy, a new friend Rodrick and I went to a mango exhibition at the Hyderabad Exhibition Grounds.
You walk into a little area that is lined with mango vendors from various neighboring districts. Each district flaunting their local brand of mango. A few of the vendors were wise enough to offer free samples, and I rewarded them for their willingness to share. You wouldn’t believe how inexpensive these mangoes were! You could get 3 massive mangoes or enough to weigh 1kg for about 50 cents. Needless to say, I got a LOT of mangoes. My favorite was this one that was on the smaller side but you could squeeze it and it would pop right out of its skin. You affix your mouth to the part where it starts to pop out and voila, as jeremy affectionately called it, you have a mango “juicebox”.
Finally, I went to the indoor part where the mangoes were not for sale. Inside, there was a room full of over 100 varieties of mangoes. It was pretty awesome. I felt like Bubba from Forrest Gump in the part where he goes on about shrimp. I mean, they had round mangoes, red mangoes, bumpy mangoes, tube mangoes, cherry mangoes, pickled mangoes, mango pulp, monster mangoes, you think of it and it was there. Check out the photo.
I leave you guys with a poem.
Is there any fruit like the Mango? It makes my taste buds do the Tango. Although it takes some work to slice. The effort makes it twice as nice. whether you bite into that delicious pulp or grab a juicy one and take a gulp whenever you get a hunger pang-o there’s no other fruit like the mango!
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