Kitchen Project #139: All About Mango
My favourite ingredient spotlight yet
Hello,
Welcome to today’s edition of Kitchen Projects. It’s so lovely to have you here.
Today, we are doing an ingredient spotlight on the great joy of May: MANGO! While these recipes were made with Indian mango season in mind, I’ve no doubt they can align with whatever mango moment befits them throughout the year (can someone please hook me up with Thai mangoes? I am ready!).
From no-churn ice creams to sorbets, to cakes to puddings, this a one-stop mango shop! Some of these recipes are available exclusively to KP+.
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Love,
Nicola
I wrote a book!
I’m so excited that my debut book, SIFT: The Elements of Great Baking, is available now. Across 350 pages, I guide you through the fundamentals of baking and pastry through in-depth reference sections and well over 100 tried-and-tested recipes, with stunning photography and incredible design. SIFT is the book I wish I'd had when I first started baking, and I hope you’ll love it.
PS. If you have a copy of SIFT and have enjoyed it, please could I ask you a favour and ask you to consider leaving a review on Amazon? You can still review it even if you didn’t buy your copy there. It helps other people find the book, too! Thank you so much :)
Gotta (man)go your own way.
Revelling in the absolute peak of a fruit’s season is glorious and fleeting. We meet here at the heart of Indian Mango season, where brightly coloured boxes holding kesar and Alphonso mangoes are piled along the main drag of Whitechapel, appear in unassuming newsagents, or can be found in fancy greengrocers (for twice the price, of course.)
I don’t quite understand the physics of mango season, but it goes like this: Those with direct hook-ups—usually family—get an early showing, usually at the beginning of May. Dee, my wonderful friend and former boss, received a special delivery direct from India long before any half-decent ones were available in my local area. Then, the mango WhatsApp dealers start up (though I expect I’m tier 4 or 5 on their list).
It’s then that I know it’s time to pilgrimage to my very favourite mango shop on Drummond St, behind Euston Station. In the last year, this shop front has had a real makeover. Formerly National Lottery blue with a faded mustard-tone ‘Spice Shop Ltd’ sign, it’s now a bright jewel box, a happy lemon yellow. I’ve never had a bad mango from this shop and trust them implicitly. I carried my box home this week and scarfed two down immediately. They were perfect - fragrant, soft, aromatic, not a fibre in sight.
Out of interest, I always order a box of mangoes from one of the online retailers. This year I tried ‘red rickshaw’. To my surprise, the box was delivered in the same packaging as my Drummond St mangoes! Had I lucked out? Were these the same perfect mangoes I'd collected from my favourite shop?
Alas no. Were they bad? No, no, certainly not. But they were slightly more tangy, acidic, and a touch stringier. Still delicious, of course, but not as good as the first box. As I'm still relatively new to the Indian mango season, this is my third year of properly leaning into it; I've not developed my sixth sense yet. Picking the right mango still feels scary - I'm not brave enough to ask the seller to open and inspect each mango. And even if I was, I'm not sure I'd know exactly what I'm looking for! But still, maybe next year.
I've been lucky to develop many mango recipes over the past few years, and this year, I've got some new recipes for you to really dig into this fruit. Welcome to the Kitchen Projects Mango Ingredient spotlight!
I'm thrilled to share a round-up of recipes, along with some newly commissioned work from pastry chef Marie Havnø Frank, Sarah Johnson author of Fruitful, and Louis Thompson, a pastry chef at Spring. There's also a link to the beautiful mango story written by Tarunima Sinha, author of My Little Cake Tin, last year.
Step 1: Finding mangoes
If you've not experienced Indian mango season, I encourage you to seek out some fruit this year. There are so many mango varieties available, but there are two that are common in the UK: the Alphonso, with its firm, orange flesh and complex mixture of floral, sweet, and green notes, and the Kesar, a slightly milder, sweeter variety.
This is a very London-centric map, but I'm thrilled to share my mango map. Please continue sending me mango tips so I can keep the map updated. Click here to see it. Tips on buying mangoes can be found here and here.
Step 2: Understanding, preparing and storing mangoes
Look no further than this ultimate guide by Tarunima Sinha, author of My Little Cake Tin, for her take on mangoes, with information on how to choose, prepare, store, freeze and puree the peak fruit during its short season. It is also a gorgeous piece of writing about her childhood in India.
“Growing up in India, mango has always been more than just a fruit for me. It's a life lesson in more ways than one. It's the anticipation teamed with patience, learning to value seasonality, understanding the nuances in the varieties and appreciating the differences or just the art of simply enjoying the fruit, pure gold in a fruit form if you ask me.”
Step 3: Let's make / bake / eat!
So, you've secured your mangoes. It's time to strap in (or get your apron on): I'm so thrilled to have a gorgeous range of mango recipes to share with you. Whether you have some mulchy mangoes to put to use in a cake, or you want to display slices proudly alongside a cake blend into cream, or whizz into sorbet, this is your one-stop-mango-recipe-shop…
PRESERVED
When mangoes are so beautiful and fresh, it's hard to imagine cooking them into jam. That being said, so are strawberries, and yet I gleefully rejoice at a strawberry jam!
The brilliant author and Kitchen Projects columnist Camilla Wynne has a recipe for sea buckthorn and mango jam in her book Jam Bake. I've yet to find a readily available source of the seabuckthorn, so I've never managed to make this recipe. Last week, however, I received on my doorstep (via a kind friend) a jar of jam made by Dee McCourt.
Dee is my dear friend and old boss from my PR days, and though sshe'ddeny it—while simultaneously spooning something delicious into your mouth—she is absolutely fantastic in the kitchen. After getting a special mango delivery from India (her husband grew up there), she turned a portion of her bounty into jam, golden and sweet but still retaining that mango essence.
I asked her how she did it, of course. Her reply? Cut into small chunks, then “Approx 50% sugar to fruit and x1 lemon juiced, then boil gently until it is glossy and coats the spoon, about 20-25 mins stirring.”
Simple, right? Well, it is, and it isn't. For super-ripe Alphonso, I found the sweetness a touch strong in a jam. However, I think it would be perfect if I had some firmer / slightly under-ripe /tangier mangoes.
Of course, preserving mango doesn't begin and end at jam (hot tip - my friend Claire is publishing a spicy mango jam on her substack on Tuesday!), in fact, I imagine it's one of the least popular ways to preserve it, really. Pickled in chutneys, dehydrated and blitzed to powders, turned into sorbet (yes, ice cream / sorbet is an official method of preservation in my eyes!) in salsas. I've made a curd recipe for you this week for those who prefer a creamier texture. You can find it in the Pavlova recipe by clicking here.
SIMPLE AND SLICED
Does the idea of messing with your hard-earned mangoes send you into despair? I understand. Sometimes, doing the least is actually the most you can do. Here are a few options.
Rice pudding
This recipe makes perfect, creamy rice pudding, whether you enjoy it hot or cold. Served simply with sliced mangoes, you are in for a treat.
Pavlova
Inspired by the passionfruit posset flower tarts in my book SIFT, I made these adorable pavlovas. Piled with whipped yoghurt, mango jam (or curd, both work well here) and fresh cubed or sliced mangoes, it's a throne fit for our mango queen.
With Cake
I'm thrilled to share a recipe for Passionfruit Genoise with Fresh Mango & Lime from Sarah Johnson, author of the just-published, gorgeous Fruitful. Sarah is an American-born pastry chef who trained under Alice Waters at Chez Panisse in Berkeley, California.
She currently oversees the Pastry Development for Spring Restaurant in London and Heckfield Place in Hampshire. Her debut cookbook, Fruitful: Sweet and Savoury Fruit Recipes Inspired by Farms, Orchards, and Gardens, is out now. The book celebrates fruit and shows how to source, cook, and enjoy it throughout the year in both sweet and savoury recipes. Click here for the recipe.
Salsa'd
Another gorgeous recipe from Sarah Johnson, a mango and black bean salsa, on KP+ now.
Bonus: again… with Cake!
If you have a copy of my book SIFT, I love my candied lime mango shortcake. Turn to page 237! Click here.
COLD
I've long been obsessed with mango sorbet and ice cream. If a fresh mango is the perfect fresh fruit, I think it also takes the prize for being some of the most perfect frozen desserts out there. Refreshing, aromatic, it's the best.
This week I have two gorgeous guest recipes for you. A classic churned sorbet by Marie Havnø Frank, pastry chef based in Copenhagen, on KP+ (click here for the recipe) and a no-ice-cream-machine two layered Mango and Cream Semifreddo by Louis Thompson, pastry chef at Spring in London (click here for the recipe)
No matter your equipment, these recipes will give you the cold mango experience you deserve!
CREAMY
Combined with rich dairy, the aromatic flavour of peak mangoes is elongated. Care must be taken not to distract from the flavour (which is why serving alongside a plain creamy base might be preferable to put together), but if this balance is correctly achieved, it is glorious.
Mango Custard Tart
The perfect slice, I think!
Panna Cotta
Pure mango flavour with no bounce! Promise!
MUSHY
Sometimes, you are blessed with mushy mangoes. It is a blessing because it means you can make this cake. I wwouldn'tuse the best mangoes in here, but it's a great way of using up the ones that aaren'tquite as good quality. Plus, mango pit syrup is so delicious.
Lovely list as always, Nicola!
Does anyone out there have a good source of mangoes in Scotland? I’m in the north but would travel for mangoes!
Thanks for a magnificent post! Love these mango recipes a favourite in our house is a mango lassi, lovely in a cheese cake (extra lush with white chocolate), my favourite is a mango sorbet, it just tastes pure Alphonso, I’ve discovered posset I also love them in sambols and curries for the unripe sour ones. Such a versatile fruit.