Coming to Australia in their summer is a treat for many reasons, but a huge reason, from a fruit perspective, that it’s an amazing time is that it’s MANGO SEASON here. There are many mango varieties that are delicious and ubiquitous here. The most common ones that you will see in grocery stores and markets will be the Kensington Pride, Calypso, R2E2, and honey gold. The ones we usually have at home that Chris’s mom so graciously buys and cuts up for us are the first three I listed. So when we were in Springvale yesterday, we stopped by a market to pick up some produce, and of course, that included mangoes. I was surprised by one variety I saw: it was a long, oblong-shaped mango that was a pale yellow color, and it was labeled either a maha mango or a maha chanok mango. I wasn’t sure what to make of it, but I knew we had to try it, especially since I had never, ever seen it before on any previous Australia trip, and other than the last two years, we had been back every single year!! So we picked up three of these, plus 2 fat, fragrant and hefty sized R2E2s.

I later read more about the maha: it’s a hybrid variety that is originally from Thailand, a combination of the Sunset and Nang Klanwan mangoes that are Thai. However, the maha chanok are also grown in Australia and have been grafted onto Kensington Pride trees. It’s characterized by its unusual oblong shape, not to mention its very sweet and juicy flavor. It’s even better because the fruit has a very small and thin pit, making for the maximum amount of fruit to eat per piece. Can’t complain about that.

We haven’t cut it open yet, but I’m really looking forward to it, and potentially doing a side by side test against the other Australian varieties.