Mangoes at a market in Oaxaca.
Just wanted to steer your attention to this quick piece I wrote for Culinary Backstreets, about mango season in Mexico City and what it means to me now that I’ve developed a mango allergy. Does this mean no more mango pico de gallo for me? Yes, probably. At least I still have avocados.
I’ve seen mangoes a little bit here in New York, but it’s not an explosion like it is in DF. That said, I’m super excited to experience all the other great things about spring and summer here, like fresh tomatoes, corn and peaches. My local green market opens in June.
I don’t have an allergy to mangoes but the first time I went to Bombay (now Mumbai) India, I stayed with an Indian family and they kept their mango cache under the bed in my room. And they served us mangoes at every meal. Mangoes are like the national fruit of India. One of the largest hotels in New Delhi has a mango shaped swimming pool. It was years before I could even walk through the aisle in the supermarket where the mangoes were kept and even longer before I could bring myself to eat them. Here in Jiutepec we have three mango trees but the landlord doesn’t spray them so most of them have worms which puts us humans off but doesn’t seem to bother the animals which come around during the hours of dark and feast on them, wormy or not, when they’re ripe. Thought about having them sprayed but far cheaper just to go to the market and buy what we need.
About mango allergies: Mangoes are in the same botanical family as poison ivy. Many people (my beloved spouse, for one) are allergic to the skin, which contains urushiol. That is the oil that causes poison ivy/poison oak rashes. However, eating the flesh of a mango that was peeled by someone else might still be okay, as it is for my BS. He had one very severe reaction (throat closing, hallucinations, etc.) to the rind and it was the emergency room doctor who explained this fairly common occurrence. Good luck!