Yes, there are many more direct sources these days. Look for one that says they ship direct from a farm. You may have just run out of time, because the monsoon started a few weeks ago, and that’s the end of mango season.
A good ataulfo / champagne / whatever is a decent mango, good flavor, not fibrous, smooth flesh. It is hard to describe an alphonso other than as a very intense exponential of that. You can buy a can of alphonso pulp to get a sense for it, and maybe you can even find them frozen nowadays at an Indian store – I haven’t looked, but I’ve seen all kinds of other fruit and veg I wouldn’t have imagined there as well.
Our baseline mango consumption is similar to drumstic / moringa which you are familiar with – use your teeth to scrape the meat off the skin off slices. (Peeling & cutting up only for kids & seniors who can’t manage this.)
Sucking mangoes are always soaked in water first for a while, and the stem is popped off before you put your mouth to them – it’s possible that’s why there’s no reaction.
I had no idea that mangoes could do this. Many thanks for the mention.
Last night, the day following purchase, my partner heated up the half-round of pastry filled with spinach and a little cheese, the last photo of those I posed, above. It was terrific! I don’t remember the name, but it’s on the shorter of the two buffet aisles… So good it’s worth a return visit to Tashkent. Next time I would eat it with a yogurt-based sauce.
Does anyone know about the baked yogurt that they sell inn a glass jar? I brought a jar home. It has a light brown color but I cannot tell the difference betweern this and regular full-fat yogurt. I had it with fruit for dinner last night; good taste but I wish the consistency had been less watery. I’ve gotten involved with labne in a big way over the past year; they have at least three brands of this at Tashkent; two in plastic containers and one in a plastic box.
The half round thingies are kutabs. They are typical of Azerbaijan. They have two versions the meat ones and the herbs/ sometimes cheese ones. The herby ones may contain a mix of different herbs. It’s “vale la pena” to find Azerbaijani restaurant and to try the freshly made version. I think there is on on Emmons avenue, but I personally never been there.
The baked milk (ryazhenka) is a staple of Russian food. It gets more delicious with higher fat content (hope it is not a shocker). The life in Russian countryside revolves around the oven. Before going to work in the fields the mistress of the house would leave leftover dairy in the oven to prevent the spoilage. Hence the result! They come in the variety of flavors. The better ones are from the small producers. But I am not certain that the small producers last in US…
Very interesting about the origin of the baked yogurt. I have cheesecloth lying around and will drain the yogurt with that, instead of the paper filters.
I drained it with paper towels; an entire jar became about 1/5 full after the liquid was removed. I liked it better but don’t think I’ll buy the baked variety again; this one was just not distinguishable from regular yogurt, to me, at least. Comes in a nifty glass jar that I will, of course, repurpose for my pantry.
They added a whole new hot table since I was last there (switched out a fuit / veg station for it) – loaded with meaty options.
The meat manti was very nice, though I was surprised that the filling was chopped (like in samsa) rather than ground. Same mixture / flavor.
I tried something called Khanum that looked like a lasagne roll-up: delicate pasta rolled with a mixture of meat, mushrooms, and finely grated / minced vegetables. Very flavorful, and quite filling.
New bread trial – the triangular one this time, which is my favorite so far. It’s a somewhat dense, seeded loaf, but not intensely sour like the Borodinsky. Decided to slice it myself because their slicer doesn’t seem to go very thin.
