Mango

From the royal Alphonso to the lip-smacking Chausa, nothing can beat the rush of pleasure from biting into a ripe mango. With its endless varieties, differing in colour, size and flavour, the fruit inspires an astounding cultural devotion.

The mango is the Indian subcontinent’s gift to the world – its roots in northeast India expanding globally over 60 million years. Appearing in the verses of Hindu epics and Ghalib’s poetry; the food habits of the Harappans and the travelogues of Ibn Battuta; the horticultural experiments of Mughal emperors and Jesuit priests, the mango has shaped South Asian culture far beyond its culinary uses. Its long history is intertwined with European colonization and the transatlantic slave trade, even gaining symbolic importance during Mao Zedong’s Cultural Revolution, and continues to drive innovation in food sustainability and preservation.

Plunge into the juicy details and surrender to the summery nostalgia of this beloved fruit with Mango: A Global History. Complete with beautiful illustrations and recipes, this is a flavourful journey across epochs of human civilization.