By Denise Clarke, Staff Reporter 
Above: Rasta ice, a healthy and tasty thirst quencher from Little London Primary School. - Photos By Herb Mckenis
'Me no drink caaffee tea mango time
Care how nice it may be mango time...'
THE SWEET aroma of the ripe fruit teases the nostrils, as you sink your teeth into the skin, ripping it off to expose the succulent flesh. A drop of juice rolls down to your elbow as you bite into the flesh, savouring the sweet flavour of summer. It's mango time!
Mangoes are in abundance this time of year and nowhere is this more evident than in a rural community called Delveland in Westmoreland. The mangoes here are so plentiful that the community has taken to hosting an annual Mango Festival to share the tasty fruit with the rest of the country. Here are some of the dishes featured at this year's festival held last Sunday. The cooks recommend avoiding mangoes that are 'hairy' when cooking these dishes.
Rasta Mango Ice
2 firm ripe mangoes
water
Cherry syrup
Lime syrup
METHOD
Cut mangoes into small pieces and put into a blender. Add water and blend. Separate the mixture into three sections. Use cherry syrup to sweeten one section and lime syrup for another. Leave the third mixture as is. Pour red mango mixture into an icepop container and freeze. When this is frozen, add plain mango mixture (yellow) and return to the freezer. When frozen, add the lime mango mixture and return to the freezer.
Icepop is ready to eat when frozen.
Mango Dip
Tasty as a dip for chicken and fish sticks
1 firm ripe mango
1 cup water
1 tsp. black pepper
Salt (optional)
1/2 cup Ketchup
1 tbsp. margarine
METHOD
Cut mango into small pieces and put into blender. Add water and blend until smooth. Melt margarine in a heated saucepan. Pour blended mango into saucepan and add salt, pepper and ketchup. Stir and simmer until mixture thickens.
- From the Little London Primary School
Mango Pickled Pepper
Scotch bonnet peppers
1 lb. carrots
1 large cho cho
2 cups vinegar
Pimento berries
2 firm ripe mangoes
METHOD
Wash peppers and cut into rings. Peel carrots and cho chos and cut into strips. Arrange the vegetables in properly sterilised jars. (Jars are sterilised by
washing in hot water and
heating in oven).
Pour vinegar into a saucepan and add pimento berries. Bring to a boil and pour hot liquid onto vegetables. Allow it to cool thoroughly before sealing jars.
Guaranteed to last for a long time, as long as the jars were properly sterilised.
Mango Festival
Delicious with fried fish
3 cups flour
1 cup cornmeal
2 tbsps. sugar
A dash of salt (optional)
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 firm ripe mango
METHOD
Mix flour, cornmeal, baking powder, sugar and salt together. Blend mango with a little water and use puree to bind the flour mixture. Knead and cover with a damp cloth and leave to stand for half an hour. Roll into sausage-shaped dumplings and fry in hot oil.
- Lilly Foster
Curried Mango
2 green mangoes
1/2 cup water
1 tbsp. curry powder
2 stalks escallion
2 cloves garlic
2 tsps. vegetable oil
Salt and pepper
METHOD
Wash and peel mangoes and cut them into strips. Season the mangoes with escallion, garlic, salt, pepper and half the curry powder. Let stand for about 15 minutes. Heat oil in a saucepan and add the remaining curry powder.
Burn curry allow it cook in the oil until it is dark brown in colour. Add mangoes and water and allow it to stew. Cooking time depends on the texture of the mango.
Mango Chewies
2 cups mango pulp
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 cups water
Mixed spices
METHOD
Combine all the ingredients into a saucepan. Bring to a boil, then lower the heat, stirring occasionally. Allow it to simmer until mixture thickens to the texture of pudding. Spoon onto little squares of plastic or greasing paper and fold as sweets.
