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« on: February 10, 2012, 03:28:50 PM »
Hey Harry, thanks for the explanation. Then I'm officially confused as to why we arrive at two different conclusions. I didn't realize your mango tasting events included such a wide swath of cultures. I was under the impression that that were small events among close friends.
At any rate, I do want to balance out the opinions by providing input from other mango eaters.
I do know that each culture has their preferred mango cultivars. For example, the Haitians love the Madame Francis, Madame Corn, and Madame Blanc. The Jamaicans love the Valencia Pride, East Indian, and of course the Julie. BUT -- when given a PSM or Nam doc mai to taste test, they'll pretty quickly purchase the PSM or Nam doc mai over their cultural favorites.
In fact, the year before last we sold out of PSM in 3gal because everyone that tried the mangoes (graciously provided by Noel) instantly wanted to purchase a PSM tree. At the same time there was a shortage on the wholesale market - Zill's had a run on the PSM and completely sold out of them in 3gal. I ended up having to graft them myself from Noel's tree because I could not find them wholesale.
When I asked my wife what she liked so much about the PSM, she said that a large component was texture - it's creamy. (At least the PSM's from Noel's tree are creamy). It's also sweet - and the way that my wife (and other cultures) define sweet is by lack of tart. As an example, the palestine sweet lime is not sweet (ie, in terms of brix), but the lack of tart makes it qualify as sweet to my wife who happily gobbles them up. Yet, to the American palate, the palestine sweet lime is a very bland, insipid fruit.
The only explanation I can come up with is that the power of suggestion is influencing the testers at our respective residences, or that soil/growing conditions impact flavor/texture. Otherwise, I'm totally stumped :-).