Mango

I took this picture of mangoes when I went on vacation in my hometown Iba, Zambales. This is the real mango that we know of. The rest we call Indian Mangoes. But we also have a type of mango that is huge compared to the regular variety and we call it “Dinamulag”. The word came from “damulag” which means carabao or water buffalo. It just means big literally because it is extraordinarily bigger than any mango you would ever see.
It is so sour when green but very sweet when it is ripe. It has a certain aroma that would really make you salivate.
I remember when I was growing up, my grandma sees to it that the mango trees be smoked. They would burn leaves and other debris, because I think it helps to produce flowers and also to drive away insects that might harm the new formed buds of mangoes. January is not good time for flowering mangoes because of the winter cold breeze that blows away the flowers. March, April and May are the best months for mangoes. It is the summer season and time for picking the mangoes. My grandma would hire somebody to pick or climb the trees. She would always collect with big baskets made of bamboo lined with banana leaves to protect the delicate fruits. The mangoes are picked when they are still green but with a hint of yellow on the skin. Then she would put them in the granary to ripen. I’m sure she sells some of it but I was so young then my focus is just eating the mangoes.

Similar Posts

  • Caribbean Hot Peppers

    Caribbean hot peppers also known as Scotch Bonnet (because of their shape) is found mainly in the Caribbean Islands but widely used in West African dishes.  The peppers are scaled at 445,000 Scoville units and a cousin of habanero peppers. Its name was derived from the city of Cuba called La Habana, or Havana in…

  • Sweet Basil

    Sweet Basil (also known as Italian Basil) is the most used herb nowadays. That’s why I have it in the garden so I can readily pick the leaves if I need to make pesto or just plain use the leaves in pasta. I particularly like it in Penne Pasta Alfredo with Shrimp or Chicken. Sweet…

  • Swiss Chard

    I have been gathering Swiss Chard in my garden for months now and it seems endless. I love Swiss chard. You can use them in salads when young and saute’ or stir fry those big leaves. The one variety I have is called Bright Lights because of the different colors of the stem. The leaves…

  • Water Chestnuts

    Water chestnuts are synonymous to Chinese cuisine. They are the ones that makes water chestnuts popular all over the world except we only see them mostly in cans. Once in a while you will see them in Chinatown but you probably will not recognize it because they look like the corms of certain flowering plants…

  • Lablab/Bataw

    Lablab -Bataw – Parda – Hyacinth bean (Dolichos Lablab) is one of my favorite vegetables.  I like to cook it with pork and shrimp with “sotanghon” or cellophane noodles.  I don’t have it in my garden now but when I did, it grew like crazy.  It is a vine and needs trellis or fence to…