It’s summer and that means mangoes are back in season, baby!
But before you rush out to stock up, has it ever occurred to you that you could cut your mango differently? I have been cutting mangoes in the exact same fashion for my entire life. I’ve never thought twice about it! I pride myself on my critical thinking yet here I am, never having branched out from slicing off each cheek and scoring cute little crisscrosses before chowing down on cubed mango.
Don’t get me wrong, it’s a delightful system. Perhaps the old ‘if it ain’t broke don’t fix it’ adage has held me back. Take Calypso Mangoes for example. Known for being less stringy and having smaller seeds, they come bearing a lot more of that juicy, juicy mango flesh. How much of that have I been letting go to waste?
Anyway, today I’m going to fix it by learning five other ways to slice a mango to ensure every last bit of flesh goes into my recipe (or mouth). And who knows, maybe I’ll end up sticking with my classic crisscross technique, but I’m leaving no stone (fruit) unturned…
1. Scoop those cheeks
Basically, this is the lazy version of the inside-out cubed mango cheeks. You start the same way, by cutting each cheek off, but instead of scoring the flesh, you just attack it straight away with a spoon. Scoop every last bit out and enjoy!
2. Use a mango splitter
That’s right, a nifty little tool exists that literally cuts a mango in two while getting rid of the pip entirely. Novel! Genius! Efficient!
3. Cut thin slices
If you want to avoid waste, using a peeler will purely just get rid of the skin. Especially for a Calypso Mango, you want to enjoy all of that good old golden flesh. So, once it’s all peeled, I’m an animal who would then just eat it like an apple, but for the sophisticated among us, you would lay the cheeks flat-side down and slice thinly.
4. Slice into wedges
To start with, place your mango on the chopping board and slide your knife into the top until you hit the pip, turn the blade out slightly and continue cutting around the pip.
Once you have this curved half off, slice it into three wedges and do the same on the other side. Now, you can either eat it as is (like you would an orange wedge!) or slide your knife above the skin to separate it from the flesh.
5. With a drinking glass
Stay with me here, because it’s time to throw safely put the knife away. It sounds ludicrous, but we’re using a drinking glass for this last wildcard option!
Once you have cut each cheek off, hold the skin-side in your hand and drive the rim of a drinking glass as close as you can to the skin, right through and it will kind of ‘swallow’ all of the flesh. Don’t knock it ’till you’ve tried it!
Whether you want to prep your Calypso Mango to easily eat at the beach, need big firm chunks for a Christmas recipe or just want to get every last bit of flavour into your mouth instead of all over your hands, try shaking up how you slice, dice and serve it with one of the above techniques.
But above all, go make the most of mango season!
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