Mango Mania

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A girl picks mangoes in Shipyard, an Old Colony Mennonite community in Orange Walk, Belize

  Mango season is at its height throughout Belize. In spite of being a small country, not all mangoes can be found everywhere since some varieties grow better in certain areas than in others. How do the Mennonite ladies use mangoes? Well, among the ultra conservative groups, mangoes are turned into jams, jellies, moos, or preserved by canning since they do not use electricity. My favorite way of eating canned mangoes is to pour some Carnation milk over them or a bit of Fanta. 
  Other modern Mennonites find it easier to slice up the mangoes and store them in Ziploc bags in the freezer; when needed for a recipe or as a snack simply soak the bag in room-temperature water for a bit. 
  The most popular mango for eating and canning is the Cambrean type, with a thick, smooth orange texture and juice. When full grown it is slightly bigger than a common red apple and tastes much better after a day or two of ripening. While I don't mind these Cambrean ones, I prefer the Big Red type which grow to 3 times the size of the Cambrean and can weigh up to 2lbs. These ones taste better during mid-maturity just before they begin to ripen. Not as smooth as the Cambrean but much thicker and crunchier.
  I honestly don't know how many varieties are found in Belize but I do remember my paternal grandparents had at least 6 different ones on their farm, from the tiny lemon-sized ones full of strings that stuck between your teeth to some long banana-like ones that seemed to attract worms by the thousands. We had to eat them green with salt and pepper otherwise the worms finished them when ripe.
  Towards the end of mango season you can sometimes get free mangoes by the bucketful in the Mennonite colonies. Care for some mango mousse? 

                                                A. Mendoza

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