For a few weeks in Summer, I am like hibernating Bears, who gorge on fruits and berries to fatten up for their Winter sleep. The problem is, I am not trying to gain any extra inches. You see, this is the time of year when imported dry tamarinds are in the supermarket, and the best mangoes are piled high in the fruit-stands.
Growing up in the Caribbean, tamarinds were my afternoon snack on the way home from school. Tamarinds were the cheapest snack for poor people on our small Caribbean Island. On my island, tamarind trees grow wild like pine trees. If they weren’t cut down for firewood, they matured into huge, fruit-bearing trees.
The Colonial rulers discovered another use for tamarind. I helped my Mom collect sacks of dried tamarinds when they were in season. My mother would have us shell them with the warning not to eat them. As quickly as she could turn her head, however, one would find its’ way to my mouth.
The majority, however, were sold to the government and exported to England, where they were manufactured into soap, and condiments. It took several sacks of tamarinds to produce twenty pounds at tuppence, or two pence, per pound. In today’s world, it sounds like a pittance, but when people were paid two shillings and sixpence for a week of hard labor, that sum was like a windfall.
My love affair and appetite for mangoes is another story. Unfortunately, I grew up in the region of my island where mangoes grow didn’t grow abundantly. When my mother could afford to buy them, it was one mango shared between three siblings.
Now you understand my weakness for mangoes and tamarinds, I hope this video will entice your taste-buds to try my favorite tropical fruits.
Do you have any favorite Summer fruits that you can recommend? Be sure to share them in the comments below, and connect with me on social media.
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copyright 2015 Jennetta Younge
