my favourite fruit - the mango, the harum manis

considered one of the best loved fruit in the tropics for its golden flesh that comes with a pleasing, firm texture, mangifera indica or mango is a delight to the tastebuds. for taste, the nectarine, peach and apricot fall far behind the mango.

the mango is believed to be a native of the east indies and malaysia, and belongs to the same family anacardiaceae as the jamaica plum and cashew nut.

it comes in a variety of shapes - oval, oblong, round; colours - golden yellow, green, red and sizes. because it comes in a rainbow of red, yellow, orange and green, colour is not the best way to determine ripeness. sniff for a fragrant fruity odor at the stem end, or squeeze very gently to detect a firm yet yielding feel under your fingers. mangos ripen best at room temperature. to accelerate ripening, you may place the fruit in a paper bag overnight.

i find the harum manis the sweetest among mangos. the skin is dark greenish when ripe and the meat is tender. in malaysia, perlis is acclaimed as the producer of the best mango, the harum manis. but those i buy are mostly from indonesia.

it is not easy to tell when a harum manis is ripe because of the colour. i used to wrap them in old newspapers and refigerate them. just found out after reading about mangos that you should not leave mangos in the fridge as it will kill the fragrance.

pakistani mangos are also quite popular with singaporeans. the following varieties are sold here: chaunsa, sindhri, fajri and the alphonso. pakistanis like to eat their mango chilled. what most people do not know is that india is the world's largest producer of mangos.

however, the huge australian mangos are not very popular with singaporeans. i have a friend who has mango farms near brisbane. he was a singaporean who migrated to australia many years ago.

here we label the durian 'the king of the fruit' but this title should rightfully go to the mango because it is favoured by more people all over the world.