Chef Michael Bennett and the Mondo Mango tasting

2008-04-16T21:02:00.000-07:00

Mongo Mango Tasting

By Nina Korman

Tommy, Hansen, Duncan, Dot, Carrie, Graham, Lily, Alice. Sounds like the latest list of fashionable names for kids. But actually those monikers identify just a fraction of the more than 150 different types of Florida mangoes. Fragrant, juicy, exotic, even "sexy," according to chef Robbin Haas, the tropical fruit (whose exact origins are either Indian or Southeast Asian) will be saluted this weekend at Fairchild Tropical Garden's sixth annual International Mango Festival. Workshops, tastings, plant sales, a brunch, a discussion with local chefs, and a fiercely competitive auction make up the two-day event, which brings out the latent mango maniac in every South Floridian.

"I've never met anyone who didn't like mangoes," professes Michael Bennett, who remembers experiencing his first mango as a teenager. A chef at South Miami's soon-to-open Southside Cafe, a writer, occasional public relations flack, and major mango buff, Bennett helped organize (and served on) this past year's panel of foodies, which included "Chef Allen" Susser, Dewey LoSasso, and the aforementioned Haas. Richard Campbell, Fairchild's charismatic curator of tropical fruit, moderated the discussion. Panelists nibbled on a variety of fruits, about which they waxed lyrical or critical, shared useful cooking tips, recounted anecdotes about slaving over hot stoves, and fielded questions from serious growers. Highly amused by the cooks' playful banter, the audience was nevertheless left very hungry as the precious mangoes were greedily gobbled by the guests.

This year changes are afoot: At 11:00 Sunday morning a mango-theme brunch will precede the forum, which in addition to Bennett includes chefs Willis Loughhead of the Palm Grill, Tobias Cox of the Loews Hotel, and Miami Herald wine columnist Fred Tasker. When the search begins for the pure essence of ten mango cultivars in a horizontal tasting (fruit will be at the same degree of ripeness), the crowd won't be left smacking its lips in anticipation. A vertical tasting will feature a single cultivar at different stages of ripeness. Specimens will be sampled for acidity, texture, sweetness, and more. A schizophrenic among fruits, the mango can boast subtle flavors such as peach, pumpkin, carrot, apple-pear, champagne, butter, and worst of all -- turpentine. Later in the afternoon at 5:30, heated bidding is sure to occur when rare varieties are put up for auction.

Those who can't shell out 50 bucks for the brunch can still partake on Saturday when from 9:30 a.m. to noon the garden presents "Mango Morning." A vast selection of fruit will be on display and several untried varieties will be offered for tastings. More than 1000 trees highlighting 24 cultivars (last year more than 400 trees were sold in fifteen minutes), fruit, food, and gift items will be on sale. ("I was told they were banging down the fence to get in last year," Bennett notes.) From 1:30 to 4:30 p.m. hobbyists can attend "Mango Workshops" to learn the basics of how to plant, graft, and care for trees, plus how to deal with pests and disease. Plant owners are encouraged to bring in their troubled trees for consultations by mango medics.

Although July is known as mango month in South Florida, the fruit is grown all over the world these days, so there's no longer a distinct mango season. Fine for mango lovers who will definitely flock to this event, billed as the largest of its kind in the hemisphere. The anti-tropical fruit contingent just might find itself being converted as well. It seems that few can resist the seductive allure of the mighty mango. According to Bennett: "I'm very surprised if somebody actually tries a good mango and they can say no to more."

-- Nina Korman

Chef Michael Bennett and So Many Mangos

2007-12-08T05:56:00.000-08:00

So many mangoes
Americans are discovering the many varieties of a fruit the world has treasured for its heavenly taste and versatility.
By JANET K. KEELER, Times Food Editor
© St. Petersburg Times, published July 13, 2000

Also look at his site:

Alicia Garate, right, of Miami smells one of several varieties of Florida mangoes on display at the International Mango Festival at Fairchild Tropical Garden in Miami on Saturday. “I love the smell of mango,” Garate said. “It’s the best fruit of all.”

MIAMI -- Imagine a grocery store produce section where mangoes have their own wide display space, just like apples. Imagine, too, that you might know a Graham mango as well as you do a Granny Smith apple.
The ubiquitous Tommy Atkins mangoes would sit next to the sturdy Hadens, which would nestle against the blushing Kents and the sweetly aromatic Mallikas. The golden-orange Dot and the green, oblong Nam Doc Mai would be special buys, available only for a short time and in limited supply.

You grab several fibrous Tommy Atkins to make chutney, two firm-ripe Mallikas for salsa and as many Nam Doc Mais as you can afford. Those you eat out of hand, the slightly spicy and sweet flesh the closest thing you've found to heaven on Earth.

Sound far-fetched? Maybe not when you think that in most of the world, the mango is better known than the apple. As the general population becomes more exposed to the fruit and its many variations through travel, TV cooking shows and continued movement of immigrants from warm climates, the fruit's popularity will continue to grow in the United States.

For now, though, most of us live in a two-for-$1.49 world where the fruit we buy, though it has a varietal name, is simply called "mango."

That all may change in the next decade as researchers in South Florida from the United States Department of Agriculture and the University of Florida, along with growers around the world, pinpoint good commercial varieties and learn the best ways to harvest and ship them. The no-name mango that Tampa Bay area shoppers find at grocery stores or produce stands is one of about 2,500 varieties grown worldwide. It is likely a Haden, Kent or Tommy Atkins, each developed in South Florida in the first half of the 1900s but probably imported from South America or the Caribbean.

Executive chef Michael Bennett of the Left Bank Restaurant in Ft. Lauderdale gave Sunday brunchers at the International Mango Festival a three-way blast of mango with mussels steamed in mango broth accmpaied with a spicy mango slaw and fresh mango chunks.

The acreage in South Florida decreased, however, after Hurricane Andrew decimated many of the orchards in 1992, and because foreign competition has made the crop less profitable, many growers did not replant. According to the New York Times, 99 percent of the mangoes in U.S. supermarkets are imported.

Some 175 varieties were on display last weekend at the eighth annual International Mango Festival at Fairchild Tropical Garden, a lush oasis in bustling Dade County. The festival turns Fairchild into ground zero for mango madness, and this year about 3,700 people tasted fruit, raced to buy a limited number of trees and attended seminars on growing and cooking. A Sunday brunch prepared by some of the area's most talked-about chefs was a celebration of the fruit and showed off the many ways it can be used: in breads, salsas, salads, sauces, desserts, drinks.
"Mango is the king of fruit," Michael Bennett, executive chef of the Left Bank in Fort Lauderdale, said.
Bennett, a former Tarpon Springs resident who got his start as a chef at the now-defunct Pawpaw Place in Pinellas County during the 1980s, was not the only one tossing around superlatives about the mango.
"If you're going to overdose on something," Bob Pellegrini, a Miami cinematographer said, "the mango is the thing."

"It may not be better than sex, but it's pretty damn close," chef Robbin Haas of Miami's Baleen said of the Mallika mango, an Indian variety.

"This is what a mango should be," Bennett said of Thailand's Nam Doc Mai. "It's everything you want in a mango . . . or a glass of wine."

It is not uncommon for mango aficionados to describe the flavors of the fruit the same way they do wine: well-rounded, buttery, earthy, woody, pumpkiny, smooth, sweet, sensuous.

This time of year in South Florida, mangoes are falling from the skies thanks to the multitude of backyard trees that grow like weeds there. The weather is so perfect for mangoes that the deeply flavored and coveted varieties from Southeast Asia, India and the Caribbean are now commonly grown by home gardeners. (Mangoes aren't consistent producers north of the mouth of Tampa Bay because of the possibility of a freeze, but some backyard trees in that region do bear fruit.)
"Only in South Florida could someone ask you "What's your favorite mango?' " Haas said.

That is true, but while South Florida is influencing the world's mango industry because of the research conducted there, it is not the birthplace of the fruit.
Most scientists agree that mangoes originated in Southeast Asia, with India being the main producer today. The subcontinent grows about 1,000 varieties, and many of the ones developed in Florida can trace their lineage to Indian mangoes, such as the Mulgoba, which was introduced to Florida in the late 1800s by the USDA.

Volunteers cut up hundreds of mangoes headed for taste testing tables at the eighth annual festival that drew 3,700 people to Miami's Fairchild Tropical Garden. More than 175 mango varieties were on display.

You don't have to be a farmer or chef to enjoy the lusty mango; you just have to be willing to experiment with it. If you like the taste, you'll have a good time trying recipes. If you don't like it, don't bother. It's not an acquired taste; if it's for you, it will punch you in the palate right away.

Also, don't judge a mango's ripeness by its color because not all mangoes turn bright red or yellow when ripe. Gently squeeze the fruit, and if there is some give, the mango is ready to be eaten. To ripen a mango, put it in a paper bag for a day or leave it on a counter or window sill for a few days. If you want to eat it cold, put the mango in the fridge after it has ripened. A mango will not ripen in the refrigerator.

Nutritionally, mangoes are also a good bet. They are about 140 calories each, contain almost no fat and are high in Vitamins A and C.

Chef Bennett bubbles with ideas for incorporating mangoes into cooking. "They are easy to like and easy to use," he said.
His suggestions: Add them to ice cream, bake them in a cake, puree and add to a vinaigrette or use as a sauce base, carmelize and serve over fish; shred a less-than-ripe one into a slaw. He easily could write a 101 Ways to Use Mangoes book.
Another easy and elegant idea is to freeze mango puree in ice cube trays. Drop one cube into a flute and add Champagne. A lovely drink for a brunch or baby shower.
"The best thing is to just cut it up and eat it," Bennett said.
How to tame a mango

Under-ripe mango, used in pickling recipes and grated into slaws, can be peeled with a knife. Use the same technique as you would on a whole apple. After peeling, cut away two large pieces as described above and then use as desired.
One warning: Do not eat the peel, which contains toxins that could make you ill. Many people are allergic to the sap, bark and leaves of the mango and break out in a bumpy rash soon after making contact. Wash hands thoroughly after handling mangoes, especially if you are picking them from a tree.

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chef Michael Bennett and so many Mangos

Chef Michael Bennett and the Mondo Mango tasting

Mongo Mango Tasting

By Nina Korman

Chef Michael Bennett and So Many Mangos