Mango

Mangifera indica · Tropical fruit

10 varieties40 pairings

The mango (Mangifera indica) is the fleshy stone fruit of a large tropical evergreen tree — sour, green and resinous when underripe, then turning intensely sweet, juicy and perfumed as it ripens. Eaten out of hand, blended, dried, and pressed into the unripe sour-savoury preparations of South and Southeast Asia, it is one of the most cultivated fruits in the tropics.

Picking a good onedrag

UnderripeOverripe

Firm ripeThe stage stores aim for. Gives a little, still dices into clean cubes for salsa, salad, grilling.Buy it

SkinGround colour starting to lift

FleshYields a little under the thumb

StemShoulders full, level with stem

SmellFaint sweet resin at the stem

Reading a just ripe one. Move the slider and the rest of this page — nutrition, pairings — re-scores with it.

What one gives you

71%

Usable yield

336 g flesh · stone and skin out

473 g

Typical weight

one specimen

Keeping ittap a band

Keep it at 10-13 C, not the fridge: below about 10 C the skin greys and it ripens unevenly. Chill ripe fruit only, and briefly.

Humidity

85-95%

Below about 85% it shrivels. Don't mist or wash until you cut — water lets rot in.

Airflow

Open and uncovered

Ripen in open air, never sealed in plastic, and don't pile them — they bruise.

Answers to it more than it makes it

A banana in the bag hurries it along. The mango itself only nudges what sits beside it — enough to yellow broccoli and herbs and to russet-spot lettuce.

Preparing