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Apples and Mangoes

We got a box of Tommy Atkins mango recently being that was the only mango option in the store. Its a mango that never fails to disappoint no matter how promising the looks. Always wondered why it could not be more optimized for taste and just a tad less for shelf-life. This story about a newly discovered type of apple made for interesting reading. Right now. the apple exists as nature intended - imperfect, not quite an apple or a crab-apple just being itself. It invokes some deep emotions too as the article shows:

“I absolutely adore apples and Archie’s new find is breathtaking. And what a romantic origin, unearthed deep in a wood with ancient roots. We can only speculate how it arose, but that’s the joy of botany – you never quite know what you’ll find, or how it got there. These sort of mysteries only serve to deepen our love of the countryside.”

This is not how anyone would speak of the Tommy Atkins mango. I still have half a dozen of them sitting in the kitchen and no one is feeling particularly enthusiastic about them. After all, you need to be flossing your teeth for a long time - what can be appealing about that? The author of Mango Maven says it like it is:

Tommy Atkins mangoes, compared to real deal mangoes, are *really bland* in taste and are *fibrous.*  And when I say fibrous, I mean *stringy* Tommys don’t have buttery flesh.  Tommys don’t have smooth flesh. Do they taste awful? No, but I give them a C- or D+.

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