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“That’s when it’s time to call the chef,” says Allen Susser, owner-chef of Chef Allen’s in Aventura. His offer: cart in a wheelbarrow full of mangos and get dinner for two on the house. Susser is so passionate about mangos that he volunteers to serve as a featured chef at the Mango Brunch, a sell-out event held annually as part of the International Mango Festival at Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden in Coral Gables.
During the festival, hundreds of people stand in line to taste new mango varieties and then head off for another line where they wait their turn to buy 3-foot mango trees. This year’s festival, July 12-13, focuses on the Mangos of Africa, where the fruit is a staple in sub-Saharan households. Festival-goers will taste the Zebda from Egypt, an emerald green mango with a melon-vanilla flavor and the Nelpetite from South Africa, a smallish orange and amber fruit that boasts a pine nut-apricot flavor, among a dozen other varieties.
Those flavor profiles sound a bit strange to people who’ve tasted only the few varieties found in U.S. grocery stores, where the most common mangos are imported from Mexico, Ecuador, Peru, Brazil, Guatemala and Haiti and include the Tommy Atkins, Haden, Keitt, Altoufo, Francine and Kent. More than 150 different mango varieties are grown commercially around the world, each slightly different from the other.
What do those lucky enough to have their own mango tree do with their crop? Susser, for one, is never at a loss—he makes the Red Snapper and Mango Cerviche and the Mango Fool Parfait presented here. He also makes Crab and Mango Salad, Mango Macadamia Nut Rice, and Shrimp and Mango Curry at /mango
Like Susser, once you begin to include the sweet, luscious fruit in your cooking, you, too, will be mad for mangos. — Candace Floyd, Reliss Editor.
How to Select and Cut a Mango:
If you plan to use the mango immediately, look for firm, unblemished skin. Smell the stem end; it should emit a sweet tropical scent. Then give it a squeeze. A ripe mango should give a little when firmly squeezed, but not so much as to leave an imprint. Mangos will continue to ripen at room temperature. To cut a mango, stand it stem end down on a cutting board. Place your knife 1/4 inch from the center and cut down through the mango. Flip it around and repeat on the other side. Score each half in a criss-cross pattern, cutting to, but not through, the mango skin. Turn the mango half inside out and cut off the mango with a knife.
Red Snapper and Mango Ceviche
Ingredients
1/2 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/4 cup freshly squeezed lime juice
2 medium jalapeños, seeded and minced
1 large red bell pepper, finely chopped
2 large mangos, finely chopped
1 medium red onion, finely chopped
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
Coarsely ground black pepper
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
2. Add remaining ingredients. Toss lightly. Serve within 1 hour. Serves 6.
Recipe adapted from Chef Allen Susser, Aventura, Fla. Relish a Taste of America, "Crazy for Mangos," July 2008.
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