These were the most enormous mangoes I have EVER seen. Hanging at a vendors stall last weekend at the FTI Taguig market, and 
weighing in at about 1 to 1.2 kilos per PIECE!, my curiosity was definitely peaked. I purchased two pieces, and at PHP80 a kilo, they cost roughly PHP80 a piece. I normally get 3 or more normal sized mangoes to a kilo so I was a bit skeptical about the value of these “hybrids†that appeared to have been weaned on steroids! The vendor said they were called “Millenium Mangoes†and that they were definitely eating mangoes… Turns out they were a hybrid brought in from Malaysia years back and now many of the trees planted locally are starting to bear fruit. Back at home, they seemed unripe so I left them out on the table for about 4 days until their skins started to yellow and they got softer and more fragrant. The stem ends started to blacken so I assumed they must be ready to eat. After a few hours in the fridge to chill them, I decided to try the larger specimen…
The mango was surprisingly good. Just one face of the mango had the meat equivalent to about 1.5 normal sized mangoes. The meat was sweet and possessed the flavor of an 
apple mango. Contrary to my expectations, it wasn’t fibrous at all, and it was very juicy. Overall, I would say a 7.5/10 on the Marketman scale… But the unusual size really opened up some interesting options for serving the fruit. I actually put a harlequin criss-cross pattern on them and scooped them out into a bowl rather than eat the mango as I normally would have – with a spoon… The kid was stunned by the size of the seed and there was enough meat on it to rival a small mango! Overall, I thought they were worth the money and if they were consistently available in the markets I would buy them occasionally for a change from my standard Guimaras or Cebu mangoes…
15 Responses
Wow. That looks amazing! No fibre/wiry bits at all? It’s definitely on our “to try” list then.
Great news – our produce benefits from global trade and with our fertile land the hybrid millenium mangoes thrive well and bear good fruits. Good addition to our mango selections.
I would really like to know how you would rate this compared to the peach mango sold by ECJ farms. They’re over a kilo when unripe, but lose weight as they ripen (as all mangoes do). If you can, don’t buy pure green mangoes, as you can get more bang for the buck with half-ripe or fully ripened ones, of course being careful not not to get those treated with kalburo.
Jason, I really need to get to that ECJ stall in Tiendesitas…I want more batwan or batuan as well…
I first saw a mango that big a year ago when we had balikbayan relatives who made a stop at Cagayan de Oro. Never saw any mango like it until I read your post.
can you compare the sweetness of the millenium mango with that of the pico? the pico are the heart shaped ones and are not fibrous unlike the carabao mangoes which are quie fibrous but do tend to be sweet
chocolatesky, the sweetness was good but with that slight flavor of something else, whether appley, peachy, etc. However, the intensity of the sweetness of a ripe pico or carabao mango might be more explosive in one’s mouth. It was juicy but not too watery…sweet but not cloyingly so. I was surprised, to say the least…I am always wary of gigantic versions of any fruit as a result of intentionally breeding it to be that way… Crissy, it seems quite a few farms are starting to grow these mangoes… I can’t imagine them on the tree, they are huge!
I like them better unripe with bagoong or alamang because of that other flavor.
wish this type of mangoes would be available on most leading grocery stores.. FTI is just too far from me… i love mangoes fresh, cooked, baked, green, ripe, with cream, etc. hehehe!
When we were in West Africa, I had my first taste of these giant mangoes in Bamako, Mali. They are called “mangues americaines” – please don’t asked me why, because I got several versions depending on who I spoke to. They are very fragrant and very sweet with a super thin stone that it’s impossible to grow another one from it. As far as I know, some specialized nurseries are the only reliable sources if one wants to grow them. I also discovered while living and travelling across the African countries that there are actually several “hybridised” or grafted mangoes that are encouraged by the government. In Burkina Faso, for example, they have a few very interesting ones, but my favorite is that one called Kent, also grown and marketed in Africa and France. This one has a slight peachy flavour and oozing with juice. Excellent to make ice cream. The other one is called mangue ananas or pineapple mangoes. These are rather frighteningly HUGE with a sweet pineapple-mango fragrance and taste, but ohh soooo full of fibres when ripe, it becomes a huge disappointment to eat and frustratingly fibrous! I suspect something very wrong happened during the grafting process. But it’s excellent eaten green or just beginning to ripe, crunchy and no fibres!
It’s only in Africa that I’ve seen five feet tall mango trees and already heavy with huge mangoes! Most of the hybridized ones are being planted although the small local fibrous ones are only appreciated for the shade they give.
It is worth mentioning too, that I am amazed how these mangoes could thrive in West Africa which is also called the sub Saharian region due to their closeness to the Sahara Desert and rain comes sporadically for a short 3 months (if it comes..)
But our Philippine mangoes still stand out the best…
I don’t know if anything can beat the Guimaras mangoes. I’ve eaten my fair share and have only just had the chance to actually be in Guimaras and eat the mangoes at their peak and the experience is nothing short of DIVINE. I wanted to bring some back to Manila but was told that the Mangoes would be bruised and inedible.
i saw these giant mangoes three weeks ago when i went to manaoag. had i not been carrying a couple of luggages then, i would have bought a couple to bring back home. i was told that they were really good. unfortunately, i wasn’t able to try one.
These magoes are called ‘Florida mango’ in Cotabato. Some of my relatives have fruiting trees already more than five years old and the fruits are even bigger but not that many. I remember one relative told me that this variety turn out fruit all year-round.
Have you heard about the Chokonan variety? They say best at “manibalang” stage because it may be too sweet for some when ripe.
I bought some 1yr old trees over the weekend and replanted them in plastic bags. Supposed to fruit in 2 yrs.
My target is to have Chokonan by Easter 2009 :)
I have been growing and packing mangoes for Perth Western Australian markets particularly Kensington Pride and R2E2 variety but nothing can compare the taste of our very own manga cebu isn’t it. I’m proud of it.