Nissa, Author at Under the Mango TreeUnder the Mango Tree

Strawberry Mango Bars

April 4, 2023

Here is the perfect early spring easter dessert, really we can’t stop eating it

I adore strawberries. One of my long-standing fantasies is that I will retire in Italy as an organic strawberry farmer. I also fantasize of retiring in Sicily as a mango farmer (believe it or not mangoes grow decently there). This recipe fuses my two fantasies together and I can’t help but feel joy at the heart of this dessert. The combination is sweet and interesting with an ease of complexity.

I love pairing mangoes with strawberries in my recipes because of this flavor camaraderie. This new lemon bar-ish recipe began as a cranberry mango bar in the original idea phase. I am so glad I procrastinated because this spring strawberry version feels more natural and lighter with less sugar use than the cranberries would have called for, thanks to the natural sweetness in mangoes and oranges and my strength in using fruits to sweeten deserts.

Featured, News

Pick Your Promotion!!

March 15, 2023

The 2023 promotional calendar is out, utilize it!

Bits and pieces or the whole package… the Crespo Organic (full season) Mango Program has everything needed, and it’s not just #MuchosMangoes! The season long program will help build and shape strong, lasting and EXCITING mango programs that educate, engage and entice shoppers for the full duration of the LONG MEXICAN season. This reputable and reliable brand, the only direct trade organic mango program around, form orchard to table, is the real thing! Mango lovers flock to the program and the ongoing promotions!

Download Your Interactive PDF Promotional Calendar

Featured, Kitchen

Six Recipes for More Light

March 10, 2023

More time to enjoy sunlight and mangoes

Added sunlight time after the end of a workday is amazing especially for those who work a 9 to 5 job. Try these delicious and easy to make mango-centric recipes for “more light”. These recipes from the #CrespoOrganicKitchen are inspired by Daylights Saving time and with an added hour of sunlight you can enjoy these recipes while watching the sunset and add more #MangoJoy to your light.

Farm, Featured, News

A “Big” Crop Report

March 10, 2023

The lack of small fruit is real and size Up-ortunities are too!

There is a significant and serious lack of small fruit coming out of mango orchards in the south (Chiapas & Oaxaca) right now. As a result, there is a lot of confusion and panic in the market. This is mostly because pricing remains higher than average and bigger fruit and higher prices mean more expensive pieces of fruit.

We’ve received new intel, including photos and video from our Crespo boots on the ground or in this case Roberto Crespo. His information has been coming in the last several weeks as we’ve been trying to better access the small fruit situation. It’s been coordinated and agreed upon by all Crespo’s as well as several other large and medium sized conventional and organic producers in the south. It all true, the small fruit shortage!

Featured, People

“Our Stories”

March 8, 2023

El Grupo Crespo/RCF’s Unstoppable Women

I shared my thoughts on this International Women’s Day in another post: “Where Is the Spine of International Women’s “Day”? Building Bridges: Diversity & Inclusion.

In that post I call on my fellow industry peers to welcome more diversity and inclusion on their teams, to their marketing streams, and beyond. Women and other underrepresented groups come with differing perspectives, education, skill sets, expertise, and training that should be celebrated. If we are willing to openly and honestly assess where we are at today, we can take the steps necessary to create a fairer world.

I asked those with a vehicle for sharing information in our industry to welcome more diverse voices, role models, and unstoppable leaders. Diversify who you interview, feature, and talk about. Cover topics of diverse value. Increase awareness. If we market underrepresented voices in our industry, we can help accelerate equity. But we have to support them directly, too!

Below is my contribution to the effort, celebrating a few of El Grupo Crespo/RCF’s Unstoppable Women’s voices!

Culture, Featured, News, Secrets & Lies

Where Is the Spine in International Women’s “Day”?

March 7, 2023

Building bridges: diversity & inclusion

It’s a weird day, this International Woman’s Day thing. It feels important but like we’ve made a very serious topic frivolous by placing it in a “day category”, next to International Ice Cream Day and International Siblings Day. My gut feeling is that this rather uncomfortable topic is placed here between ice cream and siblings because we don’t know what else to do with it. We still don’t know quite how to address real life disparity.

Most search engine results will point browsers to one particular website: InternationalWomensDay.com. As far as I can tell, the site’s origins are untraceable entities except for the fact that John Deer seems to be a sponsor (which feels peculiar and suspicious to me, I won’t lie).

The theme on this site is #EmbraceEquity. Despite this year’s incredibly cheesy (and if you ask me a little too soft for the subject matter) self-hug photographic rendition of the theme, the site manages to capture the most important aspects of equality: diversity and inclusion… “to get the world talking about why equal opportunities aren’t enough.” Citing that: “People start from different places, so true inclusion and belonging require equitable action.”

Featured, Kitchen

Celebrate Fat Tuesday with Mangoes

February 20, 2023

Étouffée with mango tabasco & mango anise (sugar cube) sazeracs

“Mardi Gras” means fat Tuesday, I only learned that a few years back which makes me giggle a little bit! It always falls before Ash Wednesday which signals the beginning of Lent a predominantly Catholic “event” which happens during the lead up to Easter and typically consists of payer, repentance and some fasting. Fat Tuesday is the day during lent when people indulge in all that they obstain from during lent. The day is a feasting occasion, often filled with all kinds of debauchery, which you can read about in more detail on Refinery 29.

Here are a few mango-centric recipes I whipped up this past weekend to help you celebrate Fat Tuesday which will be even better if you add some #MangoJoy.

Farm, Featured, News, Secrets & Lies

Unstained Facts on Southern Ataulfos

February 20, 2023

Uncovering the facts about Ataulfo mango Latex staining & sap injury

This article was originally posted on Under the Mango Tree in February of 2017 and has been updated here.

Over the years, I really thought I understood the major problems affecting the “king of fruits,” specifically the varietals and those from the countries I worked with. Since I have traveled to orchards on multiple continents to examine the fruit and its “afflictions du jour,” I thought I had the facts straight on mango quality. Alas, since I met the Crespo family, I have come to discover that I had barely scratched the surface when it came to mango quality issues.

Like most everyone in the industry, I had to sift through a lot of misinformation about the quality of mangoes, but I tend to ask a lot of questions. And because I am me, I share the information I find. Under The Mango Tree’s goal has always been to get more accurate mango information to buyers, industry folks, and consumers. As we all struggle to compete in the complex agriculture world, this blog has been my attempt at being part of the solution. Talking about commodity imperfections is an important part of that process and an important part of commodity education.

Today I want to talk and share about the dark marks we see on many of the Ataulfo mangoes from time to time and most often from the ones that hail from the southern regions: Chiapas and Oaxaca. The good news in this particular affliction/imperfection is, that the mangoes ripen through the aesthetic imperfections, that tend to be more predominant when at the greener stage (when most of you receive the product), rather nicely and turn golden yellow without many blemishes (when the consumers see it). Harvesting and packhouse behaviors make a difference and so does talking about it.

Farm, Featured

Mango Blossoms WOW!

February 16, 2023

A mango tree’s flowers signal potential for #MuchosMangoes

Flowers have been top of mind this week, and it wasn’t because my social media feed was bombarded by flowers for Valentine’s Day. Rather, throngs of vibrant photos and videos of mango blossoms from the #HermanosCrespos lit up my WhatsApp, exhibiting the last of the late blooms in the south, the new blooms bursting open in the north and the vibrant openings everywhere in-between.

Beautiful mango flowers currently blanket most of Mexico. As we begin to learn more about the early season quality, yields, sizing, and the varietal nuances of the season from the southern regions’ mature fruit (where we’ve been packing for a month now), we are all filled with promise. That is what I love about mango blossoms: they gorgeously signal great possibilities in their abundance. Even though less than 1% of all blooms actually form fruit.

Featured, Kitchen

Mango Centric Super(Bowl) Food

February 9, 2023

What to make while rooting for KC

My father watched a lot of football when I was a little girl. He used to gamble on games and have 7-8 TV’s playing all the games at once. I knew everything about football from a very young age. I never loved it, but I did know more than most young girls and women about the sport and to some extent still do. Football, from my vantage point, has the unique ability to excite people (men) like not much else. For me football is more nostalgic, reminding me of my father and I think for a lot of Americans the Super Bowl in particular is a time to gather, eat, drink and merrily intermingle, maybe even get a little rowdy in their brightest colored football gear and if they are lucky, their team is in the big game. No one can argue that the Super Bowl is often a joyous time and #MangoJoy is real so the point here is to bring more joy to the football experience and add mangoes to your football food. The Crespo Organic Kitchen- located in southern Missouri these days and so we are clearly all rooting for KC but our tasty and easy to pull together ideas ware also available to Eagles fans!

Older Posts

Archives

Strawberry Mango Bars

Pick Your Promotion!!

The 2023 promotional calendar is out, utilize it!

Download Your Interactive PDF Promotional Calendar

Six Recipes for More Light

More time to enjoy sunlight and mangoes

A “Big” Crop Report

“Our Stories”

El Grupo Crespo/RCF’s Unstoppable Women

Where Is the Spine in International Women’s “Day”?

Building bridges: diversity & inclusion

Celebrate Fat Tuesday with Mangoes

Étouffée with mango tabasco & mango anise (sugar cube) sazeracs

Unstained Facts on Southern Ataulfos

Uncovering the facts about Ataulfo mango Latex staining & sap injury

This article was originally posted on Under the Mango Tree in February of 2017 and has been updated here.

Mango Blossoms WOW!

A mango tree’s flowers signal potential for #MuchosMangoes

Mango Centric Super(Bowl) Food

What to make while rooting for KC

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