I LOVE MANGOES
Growing up in Georgetown our yard had 4 types of mango trees.Buxton Spice,Julie,Bombay and Imperial.The first one was local,Julie from Trinidad,Bombay from Jamaica and Imperial from St. Vincent.Now I am in Florida and exposed to numerous other types of mangoes that I never knew existed.
In Southwest Florida,Pine Island is regarded as the mango capital of Florida and every July they host a mango festival named Mangmania.Unfortunately I did not know about this festival until the day after it was over.However I went to Pine Island this past Saturday and I was blown away.
First of all, the first place I went to had at least 5 different types of mango trees, none of which I had ever heard of and I would estimate there were about 50 trees of each kind.I ended up going to 2 other places and it was the same thing but even more types of mangoes.
We ended up buying about 7 different types of mangoes but my favorites were the KENT mango and the COCONUT CREAM MANGO.
I definitely will not miss MANGMANIA next year.
This experience taught me that sometimes you don't know what you don't know..
I used to think I knew about mangoes!!!!!!
Message Board Archives
MANGOMANIA
In reply to Dukes
How are they doing with Pineapples? Or is that Pine trees?
In reply to Dukes
I see you paraphrasing the late Donald Rumsfeld -
Do you now know the known best mango of the lot
In reply to Dukes
Carrie
Valcarrie
Pina colada
Lemon zest
Lemon meringue
Orange essence
Orange sherbet
Harvest moon
Dot
Sweet tart
Nam Doc Mai
Compliments of the Zill mango program except for Lemon meringue (PPK) and Nam Doc
Coconut cream was patented but the patent just expired
In reply to Dukes
Growing up in Mahaicony there was a variety that we called Bellyfull, as the name implies it was the size of a coconut! Never seen it anywhere else!
In reply to Dukes
how come you studied in JA and missed out on what we call the many varieties of 'common mango' man? Right there around the Mona area n the hills above are those mangoes and sold in Papine Market. Coley, Blackie n many but anyway you had the premier ones in your yard in GT
In reply to StumpCam
In reply to Dukes
Sir if you ever see a variety named KEIT and especially if the one you see is grown in Texas grap it. Best Mango I've eaten. Combined flavors of Julie n Bombay, skin, flesh color and texture of Bombay
In reply to Brerzerk
Keitt has nothing on the new varieties developed by the Zill family
In reply to Dukes
Pine Island.Little India. I fear for you if you visit India..over 400 different kinds and counting to 502 too
I love mangoes favourite is East Indian but I relish them all.
In reply to Dukes
How about the gators and snakes? No amount of money could get me to spend longer than a week in Florida in any given year…
A few years ago I was attending an event at Universal …staying at a modest budget outfit Loews Portofino Bay..had booked a car so decided to walk the mile or so to Avis…the amount of reptiles that i saw on that short trek was mind blowing…i will contend with the snow up north and get all my mangoes from Fresh Market
In reply to Dukes
Its similar to Florida being host to so many wild invasive species of 'exotic' animals and plants to the point they seem more abundant than where they originate from,it's indeed a magical place, and I could only imagine the variety of mangoes they possess.
My first experience seeing macaws flying low and wild in a city was in Miami years ago,have since had the experience right here in P.O.S and around Trinidad many times, don't know if its because I've become more aware and conscious, but I would never forget the magic of seeing them for the first time in all their splendour flying in Miami..along with many other similarly spectacular species all over the place..
Those people know exctly how to facilitate and manufacture the environment they want . .
Only Frosted Flakes Tony the Tiger and the Fruit Loops 'you can' Toucan were missing from the experience...
In reply to Brerzerk
We got Keit mangoes.4 to be exact and I ate the last one this morning.
I still have a couple of coconut cream which need another week to fully ripen.and there is 1 more Kent which I will eat tomorrow..
My Julie mango tree has about 50 mangoes on it but they are not ripe as yet.I expect them to start ripening in about 2 weeks.
In reply to hubert
Pine Island is amazing.It is remarkable.I can imagine what Mangmania is like.
In reply to sudden
Wow gotta try 'em 1st chance I get and
In reply to Dukes nothing like a tree ripened Julie.
In reply to Dukes
What the dates of MANGOMANIA 2022?
Love mangoes, not up to date like you or Sudden, but it will be good to surprise an Old girl friend, who lives in Orlando.
In reply to hubert
Bombay is my #1 but mi love an East Indian. A friend gave me some freshly picked of both varieties - finished the last East Indian yesterday.
Damn perfect.
In reply to Dukes
Same here, as well as millions, perhaps billions, of others who have been fortunate to experience fresh mangoes straight from the tree.
You have to wonder if such a wonder could have been the product of mere chance, or if some almighty God set aside a special day to work on this one ...
In reply to Chrissy
East Indian, Julie, Number 11, Spice mangoes. Bombay nice but worms love them. I have to slice it & check.
In reply to Chrissy
Do you mean the Alfonzo mango from South India? This is seriously good mango, arguably the best among all.
In reply to Emir
What do other people call our starch? Its gotta be up there with the best,so I suspect it has a different name(s) elsewhere..
That's why I prefer the genip thread, there's only one kind.
In reply to Curtis
Nope there are different kinds of chennet if that's what you're talking about...
There's a thin smooth skin and a thick rough skin with different texture meat,some come off easily some dont etc,and there's also one that has a different flavour ..
We have a small one called Tobago chennet and it's different to the lime sized ones ..and always sweet with a thin skin and different appearance.. ..
In reply to Curtis
"Genip", eh? You must be a GTer. I saw a street in East Ruimveldt so named and passed it off as de sign writer no know how fe spell 'guinep'. But here you are with the same spelling, which tells me that you guys call it that.
I searched Bravo's "chennet" and found a bunch of other names too:-
Wow! How one likkle fruit can have so much name!?
--Æ.
In reply to openning
Mangomania is run by the Pine Island Chamber of Commerce.They have a website but have not set the date as yet.It is held every July and this year it was Saturday July 17.It seems therefore that Saturday July 16,2022 would be the most likely date next year.
In reply to JayMor & Bravos
Didn't know genip was so universal!
Mangomania, though, would be a great way to spend a day in Florida
We had a genip tree growing up, neighbor had a mango tree
Didn't really learn about the tasty varieties until much later, and yes, very delicious varieties
In reply to bravos
I have looked in Mexico and Haiti to see if our starch mango is produced, I couldn't find any. But yes, some starch mangoes can give the tops brand a run for their money.
The things with starch mango is that not all the tress produces that great taste and agri scientists haven't spend time trying to research and mass produce in commercial quantities.
In reply to Dukes
Between mango varieties and breadfruit, the world can be fed.
I know there is/was an initiative to plant more breadfruit trees around the tropics, maybe same should be done with mangoes.
Breadfruit Plan to feed the multitude
In reply to Curtis
In reply to DirtyDan
Thanks for the link.
Any breadfruit in Florida, Dukes?
Originally from present-day New Guinea, breadfruit has been cultivated for over 3,000 years and was introduced to the Western world by British explorers.
In 1769, Captain James Cook sailed to Tahiti and discovered breadfruit. He recognized its potential as a food crop in other tropical areas and proposed to King George III that a special expedition be commissioned to transport breadfruit plants from Tahiti to the Caribbean. In 1787, William Bligh was appointed Captain of the HMS Bounty and instructed by the Royal Crown to transport over 1,000 breadfruit trees from Tahiti to the Caribbean to be used as a high-energy, nutritious food source for British slaves. However, a month into the voyage, Bligh’s crew mutinied—expelling him from the ship in a longboat and throwing all the plants overboard.
Bligh successfully navigated the small boat on a daring 47-day voyage to Timor without charts or a compass. He recorded the distance as 3,618 nautical miles (6,701 km; 4,164 mi).
The ambitious Captain eventually returned to Britain, and five years after the original voyage, commissioned a second trip aboard the HMS Providence. It was this journey that successfully introduced breadfruit to the West Indies. There you can find some of the original trees, planted over 200 years ago in Jamaica, still producing fruit.
Fifteen centuries earlier, in 300 AD, Polynesians introduced breadfruit to Hawaii as a “canoe plant,” along with other plants including bananas, coconut, sweet potato and ginger. Today breadfruit remains an integral part of the diet and culture of the inhabitants of the South Pacific.
In reply to Curtis
Certainly not widespread.I saw breadfruit at the Caribbean supermarket in Orlando in May this year but it is not common.
Only stingy bad minded people would eat dem selfish mangoes and then boast about it!
In reply to FanAttick
Poor form bro.You are better than that.
In reply to Dukes
What’s the issue?
Don’t tell me that Hety’s lack of production throwing you for a loop?
In reply to Curtis
Add Jackfruit!! Some yrs. ago a FB Trini friend showed me starch mango via that medium I couldn't tell which JA variety matches up. Saw some yrs. ago a Mango-eating competition in one of the US Virgin Is. Sudden has sent me researching...didn't know about Zill or even that Mangoes were grown in Coachella, Ca. Remembering that an acquaintance has much idle land in Texas has me thinking now.
In reply to Brerzerk
Fruitscapes which was our first stop on Pine Island had two jackfruit trees near the entrance and both trees had 3 jackfruits on them.Those suckers were huge.
In reply to Dukes
The resilience of a people is somewhere in the breadfuit story. Slaves not knowing breadfruit wouldn't eat it and it was at first used as hog food. They also refused to eat ackee as the few who knew it let others know it was poisonous. At slavery's end when slaves were sent on their way with nothing hunger caused experimentation. Now ackee n roast breadfruit is one of the 'sweetest ting'
In reply to Emir
Good info..
In reply to Curtis
Yeah man and they in season now..
They all over right now..the area yutes love to hustle them and make a lil change...
In reply to Brerzerk
Been trying to find out if other places have starch and what they call it.
Hard to beat a good starch..
Man does get lock up for that here...touch a man starch tree and police coming for sure..
Have had control of a couple job sites with starch trees and it's a beautiful thing,sure to find me there often.. 
Ok, time for my mango story.
Among the varieties of mangoes we had, was my favorite, simply called "beauty". To describe it as sweet would be understating its flavor.
One Saturday morning I climbed the tree, took a good shake on the limbs, and watched the prized ripe ones fall to the ground. Upon my dismount, I proceeded to take a good feed on the prize. Did I say a good feed?
Yes, it was a good feed, and actually my last. I fell so sick and passed out. My father was the one who discovered and revived me.
I was twelve - thirteen years old then, and haven't had a mango since. Even the smell gets me nauseous.
Sorry about the negative story guys, but I thought this was a good opportunity to share it.
In reply to Dukes
Jak fruit is something you love or hate.
I can not stand the smell- too sickly sweet for my nostrils yet I have a tree
I have about 20 varieties of mangoes and plenty other tropical trees including Mediterranean figs
In reply to Drapsey
Are you serious? Didn't know this. Good thing you hid it else we wouldn't have considered you 'normal'.
That was worse than me and whiskey. I was 14-15 and over in St Bess at a party (I know it wasn't Santa, maybe was Brompton). Already attuned to Red Stripe and J. Wray, some whiskey or other was served up; one taste and I spat it out and had to go rinse my mouth. You know the word "maddy-maddy"? That was the description. Up till tidday, me don' even want fe smell any kind of whiskey. Mine was intense dislike, versus yours which was a major allergic reaction. Glad you're here to tell about it, man.
--Æ.
In reply to JayMor
Jack fruit is pretty new to me.On my Australian adventure in Cairns we were introduced to it.I do not remember seeing it in Jamaica though people have subsequently told me I must have seen it there.Tasted it again last Saturday but I must admit I do not like it.
In reply to Dukes
Jack fruit is something you have to get used to, like soursop. To this day I don't really like soursop.
Plenty of jack fruit in Guyana.
In reply to Dukes
Yeah, man. Regular ting dat a Yard. Me love mi jackfruit bad bad too. Besides the pulp, the seed is edible too after roasting. It is available canned in Jamaican groceries under the Grace brand (and Eve too, I think), but it says "Packed in Thailand".
I have seen jackfruit in Florida. Someone asked about breadfruit-- I have never seen the tree in Florida.
--Æ.
In reply to JayMor
Guyanese eat a lot of green mangoes as children with pepper and salt so she is channeling her childhood!!!
In reply to Dukes
Jackfruit is a good eating fruit. It just has a 'bathroom problem'.
I remember my co-worker telling us about his visit to Jamaica - Ocho Rios - where he discovered jackfruit. It tasted so good that he kept availing himself to more and more. He kept asking why I thought his story was so funny. It was then that I asked him about the #2 (effect).
Sugar Mango from Colombia is the best for me!
In reply to Brerzerk
julie mango is good. but shocked no one else mention the Robin mangoes. the ones from st elizabeth are the best. i guess they are not popular
In reply to rudebway
I only tasted Robin mango after attending h.s. in Santa and I recall the taste even now. But Robin and Bombay I'll have to have again to really rank them. A month ago in Ja I had my fill of Julie and East Indian; head to head, Julie by nose. Next year I'll make the effort to line all four up.
--Æ.
Anybody ever had the Graham mango? Great tasting mango...right up there with East Indian and Julie.
Dukes, you on the west coast of FL?
Fan, I cannot see how any real J'Can would choose snow over FL. Sumting wrang...yuh mussie lick yuh head! As bad as FL is, that's the only other place (apart from CA) in the US that I would live.
In reply to JayMor
i have no idea if there were no markets in st elizabeth, but it seemed half the vendora in the Spaldings market in Clarendon were from St elizabeth. those mangoes were something else.
In reply to rudebway
Might be a niche ting-- one higgler establishes the link maybe through a family connection, finds success and invites others, next you know it perpetuates on.
BTW, I did answer you ova so. Look like seh yuh neva see't.
--Æ.
In reply to rudebway
Had it only twice n if I tell you it is giving the JA big three Julie, East Indian, Bombay a run then its damned good.Coley is a good one too
In reply to HumbleCalf
Graham as spectacular as they look is more a salad or chow mango and can be a bit sour at the seed and not to succulent at times and not too nice when fully riped...not in the same category as the best and often ignored in mango circles as a type of 'hog' mango...
In reply to bravos
It depends on when you eat it. Different mangoes have ripening stages and you have to know when to pick and eat them. Some ripen best off the tree eg Mallika
In reply to sudden
Yes but it doesnt get better with ripening and actually don't ripe well off the tree,gets blotchy and ferments quickly ,best served half ripe in slices..
In reply to bravos
Try picking when they are green but plump and beginning to lighten up and eat before they are fully ripe off the tree.
It is a seedling of Julie but does not have Julie’s ripening habits
In reply to kgbcan
We have a mango we call sugar mango too,a small almost round mango and very abundant, some are sweet like sugar some are watery depending on where you pick them..
In reply to sudden
Yeah I know it's a graft..had a couple couple weeks ago..ate them with a knife..
In reply to bravos
Your sugar mango sounds like one we call ‘thousands’ in Bim. Small sweet and v productive. We used that and something we call manga long which is like the Haitian mango Madame Francois, as root stock for grafting
I have a Tobago ice cream tree but haven’t tasted it yet
In reply to sudden
Yeah and they available in the thousands all over...especially on the north coast !! Wifey and I often go driving and pick and pick up by the bucket in season..we also run into to some starch along the way and one we call dodoux/doodoos smaller than the sugar and a real treat..you can suck the whole seed in your mouth..many people make a living picking on that route and taking them to town..
And you talking serious mango tings there with the ice cream and the long...
In reply to bravos
Not sure if it's the same...only see in one store and very expensive $8 Canadian per pound.
In reply to sudden
where is your mango farm? I hope to get some of those you mentioned when I visit Bim.
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