P. 11 - LA PLAYA
MAY / MAYO 2014
WWW.PLAYACOMMUNITY.COM
To Advertise / Para Publicidad: [email protected]
IT’S MANGO SEASON!
the cachete de ginga
mango is great for
smoothies
and
blended sauces.
M
ay through June is Mango
Season in Panama, and
there are plenty of ways to
enjoy it! Whip up a fresh mango
dish in the kitchen, try creative
mango salsas at your local restaurant, or head to the mango festival
in Rio Hato From May 15 Until May
18.
Panama is home to a variety of
mangos types, some with creative
local names, and others without
any name at all. In the early 18th
century the Spanish introduced
several mango types from the
Philippines to Central America,
through the Pacific trading ports of
Mexico and Panama. The common
mango, Mangifera indica, is the
type of mango normally grown in
subtropical regions like Panama.
Mangos come in a variety of
shapes, colors and sizes. Many
mango trees you see have been
crossed to improve pollination. For
this reason their fruits can vary in
the size of the seed, amount of
fibers,
sweetness
and
even
juiciness. The only way to find out
which mango is the best is to try
them all.
The Rio Hato mango festival in its
5th year, strives to tie mango
cultivation to the rapidly developing
tourist industry in Rio Hato. Last
year at the mango festival there
were over 15 known mango varieties, and another 5 types that could
not be identified. From imported to
local, fair goers had the opportunity
to try them all.
Here are a few of the local
favorites:
Cachete de Gringa (foreign girl’s
cheek)
This is a round mango which may
have gotten it’s name from it’s
pinkish hue when ripe. The cachete
de gringa mango has medium seed
surrounded by a good amount of
juicy flesh. While is a little fibrous,
Mango
Chancleta
(Slipper Mango)
The
Chancleta
mango
commonly
called the mango of
the tropics is a long
thin mango slightly
fibrous, with bright
yellow color. This
tasty fruit has a long
thin seed, and many
nicknames among Panamanians.
Its monikers include mothers
tongue, banana and old tit.
Mango Huevo de Burro (Egg of
the Donkey)
The Mango Huevo de Burro is a
smaller mango that turns bright red
when ripe. The seed is slightly
bigger then most with less flesh
and some fibers.
One of the many reasons mango
trees thrive in Panama is that they
can grow in a range of soils, from
light sandy soil to thick red clay.
Their versatility allows them to
grow anywhere from mountain
ranges to sandy beaches. For this
reason wild mango trees can be
found in the thick moist rainforests
of the Darien and throughout the
dry arch of the Pacific coast.
How to Prepare a Mango
Mangos can be tricky to prepare.
With a large stone in the middle to
maneuver around cutting into a
mango the wrong way might leave
you with a mushy mess.
Here are a few tips to help prepare
the prefect fresh mango chunks:
1) Before you get cutting, it’s
important to know if the mango
you’ve chosen is ripe. Since mango
skins come in various hues of
green, yellow, red and orange it is
difficult to judge a mango’s
ripeness solely on the color. A
mango is much like an avocado - to
tell if it is ripe, hold it in your hand
and feel for ‘give’ or softness when
pressure is applied. Smell is also a
good indication. Unripe mangos
will have little to no aroma. When a
mango is ripe it gives off a sweet
smell.
2) Once you have found a ripe
mango, place it on a large flat
surface. Hold the mango in a
vertical position then slice it lengthways on either side, using a sharp
knife. Try to avoid the stone in the
middle.
3) Once you have two large slices,
take one and cut a checkered
pattern into the flesh side, right
down to the skin, but without
penetrating the skin. Once you
have made your cuts simply turn
the whole thing inside out and cut
off the cubes of mango into a bowl. )