Spiced mango curd

I was very lucky, growing up, to have parents who were interested in food and cooking. My Mum had a rule that she would try at least one new recipe every week, so mealtimes were never boring. And my Dad, perhaps unusually for the late 70s/early 80s, was also keen to get stuck in in the kitchen. He made jams and chutneys and amazing lemon curd, and tried out all sorts of weird and wonderful dishes on his largely enthusiastic family.

When I was very little, he went to Mexico with a friend. I remember that when he came back, he made chilli con carne for dinner. The preparations seemed to take days – soaking the kidney beans, procuring and mixing spices… The anticipation only heightened our expectations of this highly exotic dish! My memory of those childhood hours in the kitchen, filled with new and exciting smells and tastes, have stayed with me for decades, and I have no doubt that my parents’ culinary enthusiasm has influenced me hugely.

I don’t know if it was on that same trip to Mexico that my Dad first ate a fresh mango, but I do know that when I was about 7 or 8 years old, he came home one day in a flurry of excitement, brandishing a mango and insisting that we all try some. I have no idea where he found a fresh mango in Lancashire in the early 1980s, but the town I grew up in had (and still has) an incredible and world-famous market, so it is possible that he got it from an adventurous stall-holder. In any case, he brought it home with much fanfare, and the family gathered to watch him peel and slice it, and share it out.

Oh my. How well I remember that first mouthful of mango. It tasted like nothing I’d ever eaten before, and a million miles away from familiar apples and oranges and pears. Sweet, soft, fragrant, floral, almost spicy. The soft soft flesh, melting, tender, overflowing with sticky juice that covered my hands and chin. I remember licking and licking my fingers to get every last drop of that sensational flavour.

I have no idea what variety of mango it was, but I have never tasted another like it. As much as I enjoy the easily available mangoes that we eat now on an almost weekly basis, their flavour is not as complex, as tropical, or as perfumed as that first, perfect mango. And while delicious, they have become ordinary. An everyday, familiar fruit, like apples and oranges and pears. 

So, in homage to my father and his home-made lemon curd, and that first wonderful mango, I have attempted to create a mango curd, subtly perfumed with orange blossom water and hints of spice. It has a rich, comforting and luxurious flavour, which I hope you will enjoy even without the generous spoonful of nostalgia that seasons mine 🙂

Makes 1 medium-large, or 2 small jars.

I was inspired to share this ‘flavour memory’ by Schwartz – the herb and spice people – who are celebrating their 125th anniversary this year and inviting people to share their ‘flavours of together’. Interestingly, the The McCormick® and Schwartz Flavour Forecast® 2014 features ‘Mexican World Tour’ among its five flavour trends. My Mexican-inspired spiced mango curd is at the cutting edge of culinary cool!

You can spread this mango curd onto bread, toast, biscuits, pancakes, or waffles, stir it into yogurt, spoon it over ice-cream, or use it as a delicious filling or topping for cakes or muffins. It was so quick to make, I think in a fancy jar it would also make a lovely gift. 

This post is an entry into the Foodies100/Schwartz Flavour of Together challenge.