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franktank232

Buying S. American mangoes

franktank232
13 years ago

Does anywhere here buy mangoes during the winter (the fruit) from S. America (Brazil/Ecuador)?

I ask because the ones I've bought the past few months have turned out to be garbage. Obviously they don't ripen them enough on the trees before shipping? or maybe its because i've bought too early in the season (do they get better as the season progresses?) I'll wait until the Mexican mangoes come in and will stick to frozen mangoes for now (which all seem to come from Peru)...

Any thoughts, comments?

Comments (17)

  • mango_kush
    13 years ago

    Mexican Keitts are garbage out of season. are they Marathon mangos?

  • franktank232
    Original Author
    13 years ago

    I don't think so, although I don't recall what the sticker said on the past mangoes I've bought. The most recent mangoes (from Ecuador) had a "Golden" stick on them. They looked nice! but oh man... I cut them open and completely brown inside...to the compost bin (frozen) they went.

    They seem to run about a $1 a piece around here, but obviously I'm going to become very picky if I do buy anymore.

    I fell hard for Ataulfos from Mexico last summer. I miss those.

  • simon_grow
    13 years ago

    I bought a few out of season mangoes from Ecuador via Vons supermarket and they were horrible. They were rock hard when I purchased them and after several days of ripening, they got softer but weren't sweet at all and had almost no mango flavor.

    Trader Joe's has some dehydrated mangoes that are extremely sweet.

  • zands
    13 years ago

    What I see with the black Chilean grapes is they are better toward end of season. I think your mango theory is correct. You will have better chance of getting a good mango towards end of season at a particular locale. We get mangoes from all over here. Haiti, Brazil, Mexico, Ecuador, Guatemala.... at diff times of year.

    But as we all know, a ripe backyard mango is better. Even a small ugly fibrous one ....for me at least

  • abayomi
    13 years ago

    In Bermuda the supermakets also sell Brazilian mangoes well out of season. They are trash. I was suprised to see a mango selling for $1 here - normally they can be $4 each. But anyone daring to eat one will soon see why. I am suprised the supermarkets find customers that justify bringing these year after year...

  • squam256
    13 years ago

    The South American mangoes (mostly unripe Tommy Atkins) are horrible.

  • franktank232
    Original Author
    13 years ago

    Bought a Tommy Atkins labeled "Bernies' and from Ecuador. Looked great (had a whole stack of boxes)...Complete garbage. They were even soft (nice coloring)...Inside all brown. I have no idea.

  • abayomi
    13 years ago

    The ones I am seeing here recently are also from Ecuador.

    Trash for sale.

  • jfernandez
    13 years ago

    They are unsavory. We get them from Brazil, Peru, Ecuador etc. and 90% are not worth eating. Here is a pic of two I bought from an Arab market (,50 cents) thath sells unbelievably sweet Manilas and Ataufos 5 for $1.00 during their season. I think the one from Ecuador is a Haden and the peruvian is a Tommy.

  • jfernandez
    13 years ago

    bought these Ataulfos from LA wholesale Market 24 mangos for $4.00......who needs a tree.

    they are from Ecuador and they taste very good.

  • hmhausman
    13 years ago

    I'm a bit surprised those Ataulfos were, as you describe, "very good." They look well past their prime with dehydration wrinkling in the skin and brown coloration in the interior of the fruit. The price was certainly right though.

    Harry

  • jfernandez
    13 years ago

    Hi Harry,

    The wrinkly ones are not good. I guess for 0.15 cents a mango you can't complain LOL

  • mangodog
    13 years ago

    15 cents a mango!!!!!!

    Holy Moly that's a good price, even with some old wrinkly ones in the mix. Joe, your cuban roots serve you well - you just have that nose for picking out fruity deals!

    Mango lassi's anyone...at Joe's house????

    (though we're all SHOCKED you actually bought a tommy atkins - isn't that like a sin in this crowdXXX???!!! LOL)

    MangoLAUGHINGDog

  • jfernandez
    13 years ago

    The warehouses usually open at 6:00 am I got there late, at 11:30 am, and only a handful of them were open. The street vendors all over LA are selling some first-class Manilas and Ataulfos from Ecuador. We have the largest port in the U.S. it's easy to find mangos at that price. I'm going back in a couple of week if I remember I'll pick you up a case.

  • jayinqueenstown
    8 years ago

    (Give me one of those wrinkly brown fruit rather than 10 of those unripe ones in the first photo). I live in New Zealand where it is not an ideal climate to grow Mangoes or other topical fruit, you could grow them in the very north but you wouldn't bother. Being from the last generation to enjoy quality fruit, I have a reasonable idea of what fruit could and should taste like. I just tried to eat a Bernie's Mango from Ecuador which I bought from popular supermarket more than a week ago (mid December, early summer here). What a disappointment, similar to buying a calculator that doesn't have a + button, not worth having no matter what price you paid for it. Like most fruit, including the Kiwi fruit that we export, it is all picked so early to avoid waste that it often turns bad before it ripens ie. no natural sugars get the chance to burst in to fruition. From my memory the change seems to have happened at a similar peroid to when supermarkets pushed fruit shops, fish shops etc out of the picture. I would love to one day walk into the fruit & vege section and see a few fruit flies and the greengrocer picking out a few pieces of over ripe fruit to bin as if a small percentage of waste was just part of the overall cost of the fruit. But I guess for many people the more important part of running a business is maximum net profit, not the combination of being proud of your product and good profit.

  • greenman62
    8 years ago
    last modified: 8 years ago

    i had some Ataulfo last winter that looked past their prime... starting to wrinkle etc... they were some of the best i had all season. they had a custard flavor, and so soft the flesh just fell apart hitting it with my tongue, great aroma, sweet as sugar, etc.... - now, for some reason, this year, the same Ataulfo from Mexico, just starting to wrinlke tasted like absolute doogie dodo.... i have to wonder... is this just a few days difference in ripening ? is it the tree ? the year/rain/cold etc.. ?

  • greenman62
    8 years ago

    what ive noticed also

    is in late fall oct/Nov timeframe, i see Tommy Atkins from Brazil... In Dec/Jan i see Keitt from Ecuador, in Feb i see Atuaflo from Mexico.

    The Tommy's from Brazil were horrible. 1 reason is they are a Tommy, the other is how far they must travel.

    The Keitt from Ecuador is slightly better

    The Ataulfo from Mexico "can" be excellent, depending on the year/harvest/sun etc...