The Hindu Business Line : Mmmm... mangoes

Every summer when the sub-continent goes into a delightful mango frenzy, you'll find the flavour in just about everything, from cocktails to candies.

The Gujaratis live on aam-ras, the Banaras-vasis for the langras, the whole of Telengana and every neighbouring State for banganapalli, and Goans could kill for their malcoradas

PASSION FRUIT: The winsome flavour also makes for a winning brand.

Leo Burnett couldn't have got more it right. If Satish Shah is chasing away brats from his orchard, swinging his stick a safe arm's length away in the latest Maaza ad, it's because everybody is forgiving of mango mischief. If you haven't stolen into a mango orchard or the neighbour's garden sometime in your childhood, then it's certainly been a deprived one — because nothing tastes as sweet as a forbidden mango. Even when it is so sour that its tanginess makes you squirm with delight!

The mango is an important part of our lives — no one makes such a fuss over the king of fruits as we Indians do. You'll find it in the Hindu epics and in Buddhist folklore, as the perfect background for the graceful damsels in Mughal miniatures, in contemporary kalamkari and in the crass lyrics of Tamil film songs. The Gujaratis live on aam-ras, the Banaras-vasis for the langras, the whole of Telengana and every neighbouring State for banganapalli, and Goans — both in origin and at heart like ad filmmaker Prahlad Kakkar — could kill for their malcoradas.

And every summer when the sub-continent goes into a delightful mango frenzy, you'll find the flavour in just about everything, from cocktails to candies. Over the years the branding of the mango has reached fever pitch. Come season and the flavour nudges every other variety off the shelf. Because those in business know that nothing works like that rich, sweet, vaguely resinous, heady flavour.

A brand by itself

Some brands have learnt the hard way that the mango association is for keeps. Few people would remember the orange and pineapple version of market leader Maaza, from Coca Cola. Parle Agro's Frooti tried the same unsuccessful experiment in 2003. Even its green mango version, launched last year, wasn't that hot. However the company says the Kachcha Mango Bite candy introduced in 2004 has done just as well as the original. The Mango Bite has, since its debut in 1990, been something of a classic in its unique single-twist candy. Nutrine had its version, Aam Ras. The small bites don't just come in sugar-based candies — Nutrine's even got the traditional aam papads. The Naturo Fruit Bars are probably a good deal more hygienic, but a tad less fibrous and not quite as delicious as the ones you can pick up at busy railway stations across Andhra Pradesh.

Mango, as per the traditional ayurvedic system, is believed to have heat-generating properties, and thus is more digestible when tempered with dairy products — like in the N-Joi milkshakes, Nestle's Fruit'n Dahi or maybe in a restrained spoonful of Amul Shrikhand Real Mango. Though for a delicious mango dessert, you could simply whip it up into a thick milkshake and set in your ice tray, or have them fresh with a dollop of cream or vanilla ice cream.

"The texture is so exotic, it's hypnotic. Nothing compares to that," says Kakkar, who can list out a long list of names, their USPs and a whole lot of trivia, like why mangoes are not served on airlines. (Answer: they make you thirsty.)

Mangoes do that to us... they make us babble excitedly, they make us slurp, sniff the air, and roll our eyes... expressions of pure indulgence, decorum-free consumption; "the messier the better," says Kakkar.

Even cooking that mango can be good fun. I've tried it with chicken (Quick recipe: marinate chicken in quasi-ripe mango pulp, sauté garlic, onions, pepper and spices of your choice, stir in the chicken pieces, add salt to taste and cook till brown). I've even tried cooking rice with sweet mango pulp. (Quick advice: avoidable). And if you're not too experimental, there's always aam chur, that fabulous invention that adds a magical zing to every dish it is sprinkled over, or tiny raw mango pieces to top your bhel-puri.

Then you have Vadilal versions of the mango, ready to be cooked or served straight from cans: pulp, frozen pulp, slices in syrup, in its own juice, as chutney, jam or pickled or simply as small pieces of green mango. Just squeeze on some lemon, add salt and chilli powder for immediate pickle.

The mango bias

Despite having introduced the fruit to the Western world (the name itself is a derivation of the south Indian version, maanga) through the Portuguese forays into Brazil and the West Indies, and then on to Hawaii, Mexico and Florida, exports make up for a wee percentage of the total produce. Partly, it's because of a great deal of wastage, lack of good packaging technologies and the indulgent use of pesticides. But then who cares if the rest of the world doesn't get to taste the best, as long as we can have our alphonsos, mallikas and neelums.

The mango bias can be judged from the fact that mango drinks account for 90 per cent of the fruit juice market. If Coca Cola has it, Pepsi Co will have it too. Along with Slice, there's Tropicana, Dabur's Real Mango Nectar, and MIRUNA. And with buzz that the cola giants, tainted by anti-environmental practices and snubbed by an increasing population of health-conscious consumers, have been forced to turn their attention to fruit drinks, audiences should be ready for a summer of mango-inspired campaigns.

But for all their efforts, the greatest ode to the mango will be surely the one sung to that un-tampered fruit, that flushed pink with the goodness of the tropical sun and air, is eaten freshly plucked from the tree, or ripened in the cool darkness of rice bags.

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