How to Peel and Eat a Mango

I’ve seen the chefs at the Food Network do it… I’ve seen contraptions at Williams-Sonoma to help people separate their flesh from the pit.  And still I do not understand why people are so confused or baffled about the way to peel a mango.

To peel and eat a mango raw, as a fruit, all you need is a nice serrated knife.  Huh…  maybe a napkin too, because if the mango is juicy and delicious I can bet that some juice will run down your arm and the sides of your mouth.  But besides that, no other implement needs to be used or dirtied to peel and eat a mango.

This is a photo of a mango from my godfather’s tree in Miami… isn’t it beautiful???  Whenever I go to Miami, my uncle Felo always makes us eat and bring with us on the plane a mangoes and a avocados.  Once, I had to buy a new suitcase so I could carry the small farmer’s market he wanted me to bring along.

Back to our mango peeling class… this method was taught to me by my Puerto Rican grandma, Marianita.  Funny thing, that she taught the grandkids and not her daughters, because when I told my mom about writing this post, she was in the dark as many of you may be now.  I am amazed that my mom had never seen me eat a mango like this… I think she needs some gingko biloba to jig her memory STAT!!!!

 PEELING AND EATING A MANGO

What we will do is to peel the mango skin so you will end up first with a peeled top 2/3 of mango, keeping the skin on the bottom 1/3 so you have something to hold on to. Then, you will turn the mango upside down, peel the remaining skin and use the pit to hold on to the remaining mango, kind of like a popsicle.

All you need to do is three cuts with a serrated knife. 

Take the mango in one hand upright.  The stem end facing towards you.

You’ll make one cut across the mango, towards the bottom third.  All the way around the mango, but only through the skin, no need to go any deeper. 

Now the next cut goes from the cut you already made going up from one side of the mango continuing in one single swoop all the way to the cut on the other side of the mango.  Now repeat in a cross like fashion.  You must have ended up with a mango that still has the skin on but with 4 sections of cut skin on top. 

Take one corner of the skin and pull it to peel.  The whole peel will remove leaving you with a nice edible mango with the bottom still with skin so you can hold on to it and not be slippery.

When you’re done eating that side of the mango, just turn it upside down.  Hold the pit in your hand and pull the rest of the peel to expose the remaining mango flesh.

Eat the remaining mango and discard the pit once you’re done.

Number of utensils you need dirty – 1

Number of cuts made to the mango – 3

Experience eating a sweet mango with your hands and having the juice dribble down your chin – priceless!!!

Tags: mango