Mallika Mango- Ripened

[Sleepdoc]

This season is my first experience with attempting to properly ripen a Mallika Mango.  My trees produced about a dozen or so mature fruit, and I have been picking and ripening them for a few weeks.  It has been difficult to determine the correct timing, as they did appear large and mature enough to me beginning in early June. 

The first fruit I attempted to ripen did color change to a nice, beautiful yellow.  When I cut it up however, it had almost zero sweetness.  Obviously picked too early.  Then over the past 6 weeks or so, I picked and ripened a number of the fruits.  All were green when picked, and were various stages of yellow when "ripe".  They were good, but not top tier, lacking enough sweetness to stand amongst the top dogs. 

Then last friday, July 13th,  Sheehan brought to the tasting table at Harry's 2 beautiful yellow Mallika's.  They actually appeared fake, they were just that perfect looking.  One was tree ripened, and one was picked green and ripened in a bag.  They were both very good, and by far the best Mallika's I had had up to that point.  Top 5 out of 20+ varieties at the table.  Most agreed that the picked green individual tasted better, although some did prefer the tree ripened one.  According to Sheehan's " Brix -o-meter", the picked green one had more sugar content.

Yesterday, I had Seadation over for a mini tasting.  On the table were a fully ripened Khun See,  Nam Doc Mai, Carrie, and Alphonso, and my Mallika that had been picked green on July 5, and ripened in a paper bag for 10 days.  This (one amongst a group of 3) Mallika that I picked was not really yellow.  More of a funky green with a mottled skin.  It had been 10 days since picking, and they just "felt" right.

The result ?  The best Mallika I have ever had.  It was just delicious.  Rich, complex sweet, with hints of citrus and vanilla.  Destroyed the competition, and is burned into my memory as one of the best.


From Bottom left .. Nam Doc Mai, Nam Doc Mai, Mallika, Carrie, Khun See, Khun See

[bsbullie]

I have been saying this about Mallika all along.  The are consistently in my top five, if not top three, no matter who the competition may be. This year, for the first time, I had some that were picked with varying stages of yellow (thanks Larry) and I did notice a variability in the amount of orange vanilla cream that I so identify with a Mallika.  Some were perfect with extreme sweetness, strong odor and taste of orange vanilla cream while others had varying degrees of the flavor component.  All were excellent but some were go good that there is no mango I have tasted that would have topped it (even a Coco Cream or Mahachanok...tied it, yes but toppped it, mmm, tough call).  So, as Sleepdoc states, the exact timing of harvest will make a difference with the ultimate outcome with respect to the sweetness and the intensity of the vanilla orange cream flavor. 

Oh, for those wondering, this orange vanilla cream flavor has NO acidic/tart component, it is all sweet with the Mallika.  One more thing, if you let it sit on the counter and get overripe it will lose some of that Orange vanilla cream flavor.  It will still be very good, just not ultimate great.

On a side note, Alphonso should be treated the same. 

DISCLAIMER:  This is MY opinion, and while I feel strongly about this, others may feel differently and that is their choice.

[bsbullie]

This season is my first experience with attempting to properly ripen a Mallika Mango.  My trees produced about a dozen or so mature fruit, and I have been picking and ripening them for a few weeks.  It has been difficult to determine the correct timing, as they did appear large and mature enough to me beginning in early June. 

The first fruit I attempted to ripen did color change to a nice, beautiful yellow.  When I cut it up however, it had almost zero sweetness.  Obviously picked too early.  Then over the past 6 weeks or so, I picked and ripened a number of the fruits.  All were green when picked, and were various stages of yellow when "ripe".  They were good, but not top tier, lacking enough sweetness to stand amongst the top dogs. 

Then last friday, July 13th,  murahilin brought to the tasting table at Harry's 2 beautiful yellow Mallika's.  They actually appeared fake, they were just that perfect looking.  One was tree ripened, and one was picked green and ripened in a bag.  They were both very good, and by far the best Mallika's I had had up to that point.  Top 5 out of 20+ varieties at the table.  Most agreed that the picked green individual tasted better, although some did prefer the tree ripened one.  According to murahilin's " Brix -o-meter", the picked green one had more sugar content.

Yesterday, I had Seadation over for a mini tasting.  On the table were a fully ripened Khun See,  Nam Doc Mai, Carrie, and Alphonso, and my Mallika that had been picked green on July 5, and ripened in a paper bag for 10 days.  This (one amongst a group of 3) Mallika that I picked was not really yellow.  More of a funky green with a mottled skin.  It had been 10 days since picking, and they just "felt" right.

The result ?  The best Mallika I have ever had.  It was just delicious.  Rich, complex sweet, with hints of citrus and vanilla.  Destroyed the competition, and is burned into my memory as one of the best.


From Bottom left .. Nam Doc Mai, Nam Doc Mai, Mallika, Carrie, Khun See, Khun See

Doc - is that the ever elusive "banana mango" in that picture??   

[lycheeluva]

I add my adulation of the malika. I ate several in florida just now and they were all great. I didnt really notice any difference between the tree ripened and non-tree ripened ones.

[Sleepdoc]

Doc - is that the ever elusive "banana mango" in that picture??   

LOL, yeah the real banana  mango ...  Mango with a side of Banana

[Cookie Monster]

Wow dood. I thought underripe mallikas were top notch. You mean to tell me that it gets even better if I let it fully ripen? Gonna have to give that a try. Too hard to wait for them to ripen though! Too tempting to gobble down!

So, question for the mallika gurus: What is the productivity of the mallika like?

[BluePalm]

I agree; a properly ripened Mallika is hard to beat. However, they are the most finicky mango of all of our trees. It is hard to know when to pick them, and only about 5%-10% seem to ripen to the top tier status. The other 30% are too early (even though they look plump and ripe), and the remaining % ripen somewhat well, but not as good as they could be. I'm not sure I would re-plant it; too many variables, BUT a dang good mango when it is "on." 

[bsbullie]

Wow dood. I thought underripe mallikas were top notch. You mean to tell me that it gets even better if I let it fully ripen? Gonna have to give that a try. Too hard to wait for them to ripen though! Too tempting to gobble down!

So, question for the mallika gurus: What is the productivity of the mallika like?

Varies and I don't know why.  I have seen trees that are loaded and have seen trees that are sparse producers at best.

[Cookie Monster]

Hmm. I must be a weirdo, 'cause I like the mallikas when picked a mere 2 or 3 days prior to eating, and eaten while still slightly chalky and tart. It has a strong citrus / orange flavor. Dr Campbell once mentioned that they get a 'gym socks' odor when not ripened properly. I do notice a very slight musk odor, but it doesn't detract from the insanely awesome flavor.

[bsbullie]

Hmm. I must be a weirdo, 'cause I like the mallikas when picked a mere 2 or 3 days prior to eating, and eaten while still slightly chalky and tart. It has a strong citrus / orange flavor. Dr Campbell once mentioned that they get a 'gym socks' odor when not ripened properly. I do notice a very slight musk odor, but it doesn't detract from the insanely awesome flavor.

Yeah, you guys who like your mangoes tart and chalky are weird...