Summer Love : Alphonsoes

Mangoes ......My earliest memories about them is that as a child my text books taught me about it being the King of Fruits. Little did I know that one day I will settle in the city of dreams, and relish the oh so devine Alphonso. At that age I just did not know what the fuss is all about. In a place like Chandigarh, there were varieties of mangoes available. And of them I was very fond of my dussehri, which could be bought in kilos. They were dropped into a dish filled with cold water the moment they were brought home. "This way one ensures that they cool down and don't heat up our body." my mother always told me.  After lunch we would all sit down. Pull out one mango after the other from the cold water and eat them. A dussehri  is not supposed to be sliced but is just sucked upon. ummmmm.... heavenly...... and one could have as many as one wanted. It's a different thing altogether, that a bout of loose motions after that, was explained to be good because it was cleansing the body. A few days later when I would have a big boil on my shin or calf, unfortunately my feast would get over.  I used to wonder then, as to why are mangoes not cultivated in the winters if they are so heaty and am still wondering about it, when year after year the moment the summer sets in, I see the alphonsoes flooding markets all over Mumbai.

It took me sometime to get used to the taste of Alphonso. I was also not ready to kill my ego and accept the fact that alphonsoes are  actually delish. After creating a lot of fuss  and failed unlimited hunts for the dussehri's in the lanes and bylanes of the city....I did settle down to eat alphonso. But somewhere I craved for the dussehri's. Ages later it took me a trip back to Delhi,  and an excited bite into the dussehri, to realise that I had become an addict of the king of kings. Just like the city, the fruit too had silently entrapped me into giving in to its goodness.

I can go on cribbing about the city losing it's charm.....not being anymore what it was once.... but alphonsoes  is one thing that makes me look forward to the summers, no matter how killing the humidity is.  I love it sliced or in my mango shake....in the mango cheesecake or mango souffle.... there is so much I can do with the alphonsoes. Then when I send a box of them to my cousins in Kolkata....I feel so proud that there is one thing very Mumbaiyah that I can brag about and be proud of......