Mango is known as the “king of fruits” in India and across South America, where the sumptuous and versatile tropical fruit is widely grown, readily available and affordable.
Although still considered exotic in the U.S., mangoes are growing in popularity as more chefs plate the orange-fleshed fruit in both savory and sweet dishes, as well as in cocktails and non-alcoholic beverages.
According to the latest research from Datassential MenuTrends, mango appears on nearly 35 percent of menus, with 14 percent growth over the past four years. Mango appears on dishes in every menu section, including appetizer, entrée, side, dessert and beverage (alcoholic and non-alcoholic), with double-digit growth over the past four years in appetizer, entrée and beverage sections.
“I like the versatility [of mango], the sweetness once it’s perfectly ripe or the tanginess and acidity, along with the texture when it’s green,” said Lauro Romero, executive chef at Three Degrees in Portland, Ore.
Romero is serving braised pork belly seasoned with a blend of onion, garlic, salt, sesame, guajillo and morita chiles, and lime zest. The meat is topped with pickled mango and housemade chicharrones.
“Instead of pineapple, I decided to use ripe mangos for that sweetness, and pickled them to add a bit of acidity and balance,” Romero said. “It’s also a great method of preservation.”
Mango is manifesting menu-wide at Mission Viejo, Calif.-based Sizzler, where last year the 125-unit chain introduced a mango-jícama salad in the salad bar for a limited time. The Mexican-influenced dish, available through May, features diced mango and jícama, red bell pepper, cilantro and green onion, and has a sweet, Thai chile-lime vinaigrette.
Mexican-influenced Mango Jicama Salad available on Sizzler’s salad bar through May. Photo: Sizzler.
“Sizzler has a large number of Hispanic guests, with mango the most popular fruit we serve,” said Tamra Scroggins, Sizzler’s director of food culture. “[For this salad,] we set out to combine classic Hispanic foods and textures with a Thai twist.”
Other Sizzler offerings featuring the tropical fruit include barramundi topped with mango and avocado, a manager’s special currently available at most locations, and mango lemonade, recently re-introduced with a new twist: a mango-mint garnish.
Mango is a mixer in the Blue Ice Masala Twist, a new cocktail offered at Laut, a Malaysian restaurant in New York City’s Union Square neighborhood. Created by chef and owner Salil Mehta, the cocktail includes Blue Ice Vodka, packaged green mango juice, chaat masala and pink salt. The drink is shaken with ice and strained into a salt-rimmed glass.
Mango is used as a mixer in the Blue Ice Masala Twist, a new cocktail offered at Laut in New York City. Photo: Laut Restaurant.
“We added the green mango because it is a cooling agent, and it is also a spring-type fruit,” Mehta said.
Last summer, Santa Ana, Calif.-based Nékter Juice Bar added two menu items with mango at its nearly 70 locations: The Mango Delight Smoothie and the Açaí Mango Bowl. The smoothie is a blend of mango, pineapple, cashew milk and agave nectar. The bowl features a blend of açaí, banana, mango, pineapple, coconut butter and cashew milk topped with hempseed granola, coconut flakes, bananas and agave nectar.
Both of the mango menu items were developed based on overwhelming customer demand, plus the many nutritional benefits of the tropical fruit, said Alexis Schulze, Nékter’s co-founder and chief visionary officer.
Similarly, San Francisco-based Project Juice is offering mango-vanilla chia pudding with toasted almonds at its Northern California locations. Sascha Weiss, chef and head of product development for Project Juice, created the pudding with mango, chia seeds, cashews, almonds, maple syrup, cinnamon, vanilla bean, raw agave and sea salt. The 10-unit chain is positioning the concoction as both a breakfast and a dessert option.