Mangoes develop on large, lovely trees, Mangifera indica of the cashew family. It's a species originally from Asia. Mango fruits are super sweet and syrupy.

Because of their syrupiness, inexperienced mango-eaters can get themselves hilariously sticky. Mango skins are thin and leathery, and can be peeled back rather like banana skins, if the skin is first cut with a knife. If the succulent flesh is bitten into, tough fibers stick between the teeth. However, if chunks are sliced from the stone and eaten, the fibers are hardly noticeable.

Sometimes mangos are eaten green, with salt. Mango fruits contain single large, flattish, shaggy seeds, which when tossed into the gutters of Mexican towns prove practically indestructible, and end up looking like huge, sun-bleached, shaggy cockroaches.

Several varieties of mango are found in Mexican mercados. Among the most commonly encountered are the two shown on this page.