How to dress a Mango

Today heralds the start of autumn in Australia, I am heaving a sigh of relief after enduring a long, hot summer in so many days of record breaking temperature. And soon cooler nights proclaim the summer done. Well, not until I finish the last mango from the box that I bought from the local green grocer. Unlike Singapore, where mangoes are available throughout the year, we have to wait until they come into season again during the summer months. Ever since my childhood, mango has been one of my favourite fruits and I can remember how I peeled away the skin and sunk my teeth into the sweet succulent flesh with the juice running down my arms. Without a thought, I would naturally wipe my sticky arms onto my clothing much to disapproval of my poor mother, whose daily chores also included hand washing the clothing of a family of eleven.
Unlike other summer fruits such as apricots and peaches, the fresh of mango sticks to its seed and must cut away with a sharp knife. The best way to eat a mango is to lay the mango on its side on a cutting board and with a sharp knife sliced just above the stem. When the knife reaches the seed, continue slicing through the fruit and keep the blade of the knife as close to the seed as possible. Turn over the mango and do the same, to produce 2 fleshy pieces and the seed. Carefully with the tip of the knife, cut a crisscross pattern without cutting through the mango skin. Hold the cut mango piece with both hands and press slightly onto the skin with your fingers to produce a cube-like patterns on the fresh.