How To Peel A Mango

 

 

By Nancy K. Crevier

Life is a series of tasks. Some are easier to perform than others. Some are downright tricky. Some tasks we have mastered, while others remain, for one reason or another, a mystery. The Newtown Bee is presenting a series of short articles of Little Lessons meant to light the way to a new or easier way to tackle those day-to-day duties, or even those less commonly encountered tasks, each one accompanied by a video at newtownbee.com. Welcome to the classroom.

A ripe mango is a delight to the senses. The slightly spicy flavor tempered with sweetness seduces the tongue with a silky texture. Tucked beneath the smooth skin and wrapped about central pit is a vibrant yellow-orange flesh capable of adding a splash of color to any number of dishes. But getting that flesh away from the fibrous pit and off of the skin can be a messy proposition, because a ripe mango is a juicy and slippery creation beneath the skin.

Zoë Velush-Rogers is a graduate of the Newtown High School culinary program and attended Johnson & Wales University in Rhode Island to hone her restaurant skills. Presently, she is a line cook at The Pantry in Washington Depot. “I love mangoes — when they’re ripe,” said Zoë, “but I think that people don’t eat them because they find them scary and messy.”

Luckily, Zoë knows a trick or two for liberating the flesh of the mango from its snug skin, in a manner that leaves the cook with little mess and uniformly cut pieces. “I learned this from my dad, Craig Rogers, actually,” admitted Zoë, “and it has come in handy. I think he picked it up from chefs on the Food Network, when he was working with them to produce episodes of Food 911.”

After washing and drying the mango, cut off two sides of the mango, staying as close as possible to the large center pit. “Even with a knife, you’ll feel the difference as you get near the pit,” said Zoë. Then hold one of the pieces in your hand (or place cut side up on the counter), and slice lengthwise and then crosswise through the flesh with a sharp paring knife, without piercing the skin.

Invert the mango piece so that the “grid” of fruit created by the cuts pops up, “like a little porcupine,” she said. “Then you can just shave off those pieces and have perfectly even chunks of fruit, all without the fruit slipping all over the place,” she added.

The popped-up fruit grid may also be left “as is” and used to decorate a fruit platter, as well.

To use the remainder of the mango, lay the remaining flat piece on the cutting board, trim down the fruit to the pit, slice away the skin, and then chop up the flesh. Toss the pit away, or, if you are a real mango fan and no one is looking, lean over the sink and slurp away the last bits of flesh from the pit.

Mangoes can also be prepared for use in a fruit salad by standing the fruit on the stem end and peeling away the skin in a downward motion, said Zoë. Then continue to peel away the flesh in strips. “There’s a little less waste this way, because you can get really close to the pit. But the scoring trick works great, since having the skin on the fruit keeps it from slipping.”

All that’s left is a quick cleanup of the cutting board and knife, and the mango is ready to be enjoyed.

To watch Zoë demonstrate the technique for freeing the fruit of the mango from the skin, see the video at NewtownBee.com.