Mangoes are a delicious, staple fruit of St. Lucia. May and June are the peak season for mangoes, and if you’re on the island at that time you’ll see them hanging in bunches from mango trees like above, as well as scattered all over the roads and ground as they become so ripe that they just fall off. At many of our St. Lucia villas, there are mango trees on the property that guests can help themselves to.

As this time of the year you can easily pick a ripe mango off the ground as long as it’s not bruised or beginning to rot (as the ones on the ground are actually the ripest). But if you don’t want to take one off the ground, you can pick one off a tree and wait or day or two for it to ripen.

You know a mango is ripe when it becomes quite soft/squishy to the touch.

But how do you properly cut a mango? Once you know it seems so intuitive, but many people still don’t know, so here’s how!

Step 1: Cut Off Halves of the Fruit to Either Side of the Pit

The pit of a mango is wide and flat. Cut off slices of the mango flesh to either side of the pit, and as close to the pit as you can without actually cutting into it. After a couple times you’ ll get the feeling of it.

Step 2: Slice Grids Into Each Half

With the tip of your knife, slice a little grid into each half of the mango, going down to the skin but not cutting through it.

Step 3: Flip Them Inside Out

Just flip the mango skin inside out and the fruit will pop out into perfect little cubes.

P.S. You can see how soft and fleshy this mango looks; the cubes are almost falling off the skin already. That’s because this mango is of perfect ripeness! 🙂

Step 4: Trim Around the Pit

There’s still a bit of flesh left on the fruit to either side of the pit that we haven’t cut off yet. The pit is quite wide, so you’ll only be able to get two little slices, but with a mango this nice you don’t want to waste anything!

And there you have it! Your mango is ready to enjoy!

You can now cut the cubes off the skin and chop them up further to put in a salad, etc, or – as we prefer, you can just eat the cubes right off the skin! Make sure you have a napkin ready because your hands will get wet and sticky! And be careful, mango juice can stain clothes!

Wishing you sunny days,

~Oasis Team

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