Mango Mix

Today on Twitter my blogger friend Leslie Limon wrote: "My kitchen smells SO good! Onion, garlic and dried ancho chilies...SIGH!" Immediately I thought, "Yes that does sound good but there is something missing...mangoes. However, I am not talking about the yellow mango fruit that grows on trees. I am talking about green bell peppers. In parts of Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Illinois, and Missouri, green bell peppers were known as "mangoes". When the mango fruit was first discovered by Portuguese explorers in East India the only way that it could be exported or transported without refrigeration was by pickling in vinegar and brine. It became a favorite treat and later on people made imitation pickled mangos by stuffing green bell peppers or certain types of hollowed out melons with things like cabbage, onions, cucumbers, brown sugar, and spices spices and then pickling them. It must have been a popular dish because green bell peppers, which are technically a fruit and not a vegetable, became commonly known as mangoes in the above mentioned places. You can see the name "mangoes" on old railroad manifests in reference to bell peppers and some old timers still refer to bell peppers as mangoes.

That brings me to my main topic, "mango mix". I learned about mango mix from a friend who talked me into running a hamburger concession stand with him one time. When we were ready to fire up the grill I asked him what he wanted me to do and he told me to start making "mango mix". Apparently mango mix is an old standby among carnival and county fair concessionaires. If you chop up equal parts of onions and green bell peppers and throw them on a grill with a dab of lard it makes a smell that quickly travels far and wide and makes people very hungry. It really works too. Ever since then whenever I have given a backyard party or am in charge of cooking for a picnic I rely heavily on mango mix. You need to make a bunch of it and I always have a little pile bubbling away on the corner of the grill or in a little frying pan. It makes people crazy. It doesn't mater what you cook after that. After people have had a few beers in them and smell the mango mix they will eat just about anything with gusto. Not only that but they will rant and rave about your cooking and you will meet neighbors that you have never met before. They will come around because they just can't help themselves. Mango Mix...don't leave home without it!

One more thing. Leslie Limon has inaugurated a new blog called "Motherhood in Mexico". Check it out. It's a little bit of everything. She is a great teacher.