"Mango is like a drug. You must have more and more and more of the Mango until there is no Mango left. Not even for Mango!"-Mango, Saturday Night Live
Generally, there are two types of people that eat at Thai cuisine restaurants--those that order the sticky rice with mango for dessert, and those that do not. Fellow PR gal SD and I proudly fall into the first category. Regardless of the price, time, the fullness of our stomachs or the fact the dish is only offered when mangos are in season; we always request the fruit dish. Occasionally, we start to talk ourselves out of it ("Surely, mangos are now out of season??"), but it's no use. Recently, over a plate of the mango/sticky rice combo, SD shared her very own mango story. I like to refer to as the great mango tree fable. The story unfolds with SD as a young girl visiting her grandfather in India. Allegedly, she threw a mango seed out the window. While one might normally chastise her for inconsiderate littering habits, this now fully green do-gooder was onto something. You see, over the years, a mango tree sprouted up precisely where she had tossed the seed. As she shared the story, we marveled at the fact that the earth, rain and sun had to all align in the perfect way for that seed to become a mango tree.
While we would both like to believe there was a little magic involved in the great mango tree fable, the simple fact may be that mango trees, indigenous to India, flourish in the subcontinent. In fact, over 50 percent of world-wide mango production is cultivated in India. When ripe, these mangos are sweet and juicy with peels ranging in multicolor tones of yellows and reds. Unripe or green mangos are generally sour and used in savory dishes or ground up as a spice. Mangos now grow in most tropical climates and are popular throughout China, Southeast Asia, Africa and Latin America.
As a tribute to our mango amour (and SD's magical tree), the fourth Asian flavored cupcake is food blog Cinnamon Love's chocolate rum and mango cupcakes. These delights are fudge chocolate rum cake with a mango rum glaze, topped with whipped cream and fresh mango slices. One bite and you'll experience the mango magic first hand.
image source: cinnlove.blogspot.com
-RW
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