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#CelebrateMexico #CelebrateMangoes

April 5, 2023

The Cinco de Mayo show goes on, despite supply complexities

A single mango goes a long way: in recipes and in creating #MangoJoy for consumers. Mangoes don’t have to be dirt cheap or in heaping abundance for a consumer to feel the sweet tropical satisfaction and joy that comes from eating and using mangoes.

As I previously reported, Easter is the threshold for volume turnaround. For the most part, that is still the case. The main problem is that the Easter packhouse closings intersect with the lowest volume weeks of fruit. This means the low volume weeks we have experienced are bashing up against less fruit and orchard/packhouse shutdowns for a few days. This means next week (the week after Easter) will be the most difficult week for fruit volume fulfillments industry wide.

Oaxaca and Chiapas are a 3-5 day drive to Nogales & McAllen, and fruit has to be picked, packed, and shipped before anyone can get their hands on it. The math is simple and with an already empty(ish) pipeline and unprecedented demand, we anticipate that it will take a few weeks to fill up. This puts us directly into the Cinco De Mayo push, which means we do not expect a “flush” of product until after Cinco De Mayo. But I say that with caution as the timing puts is directly in the beginning of the transition from the southern regions into the Northern ones with the onset of Nayarit Ataulfos. Continue Reading…

Featured, Kitchen

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.

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Culture, Featured, Kitchen, News, People

My Equipo’s Recipe for Success

March 22, 2023

 

Those that feast together grow together

Someone recently claimed that recipes have no place in buyer-focused produce marketing. That someone doesn’t know my history with buyers or recipes nor does that person connect the dots between farms and tables, like I do. That someone has probably never witnessed the excitement over the vibrant consumer mango recipes and educational cards boldy worn by the displays of #MuchosMangoes during Crespo Organic Summer Mango Mania, put there by people like Four Seasons Produce’s merchandiser extraordinaire Brian Dey. That someone has likely never tasted the tantalizing Crespo Organic Sinaloa Sauce recipe, the one that I created to pay homage to the Crespo family’s home state of Sinaloa and the habanero and mango connection. No doubt  that someone completely underestimates the power of a good recipe and of food in general.

Food is a connector. When we share food, we get deeper insights into one another. Food builds friendships and mends conflicts. It’s a life necessity and one of the few sensory experiences that we get to share with all other human beings on the planet. Food may just be the most powerful connector there is. It is nourishing and, to partake in it together, nourishes the group. As we bring food into our bodies with others, we become the same. That feeling of sameness relaxes us and creates more openness. Trust, cooperation and growth are born out of openness. A mango recipe shared, seen, cooked, shared again (with consumers) binds us all. I know the power of food and a good recipe.

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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.

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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.

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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!

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Culture, Featured, Kitchen

Celebrate, Know and Feel Mexico with Pechuga

December 20, 2022

A celebratory mango-milk punch for Christmas

I had my first Pechuga, about 30 years ago when I was studying politics in Cuernavaca, Mexico while in college. On one of our outings we visited the then governor of the state of Morelos (where Cuernavaca is located) at his home, to discuss local politics. The governor also happened to  produce mezcal.  It wasn’t long into the outing when we veered off political course and began indulging in the governors mezcalero side, drinking and discussing mezcal instead. Eventually he pulled out a bottle of his pechuga, or as he humorously described it “mezcal’s breast milk.” After the poorly translated jokes, he went on to describe pechuga to us for real, explaining that it’s a very special and celebratory spirit made by mezcal makers and made with raw chicken or turkey breast as well as a medley of other botanicals, herbs and spices.

Wait, what? The room of 19-20 year old Americans were a bit in shock, even my then weird loving idea self, was aghast with the idea of raw chicken breast used in mezcal.

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Featured, Kitchen

Mallika Mango French Toast

August 8, 2022

The silk texture of Mallika’s is perfect for this decadent & easy French toast

This is the second season for our Mexican grown Indian Mallika mangoes and The Crespo Organic Kitchen has been buzzing with excitement. It’s so rare for us to have completely fiberless mangoes and these silky creamy delights are proving fun to create recipes with!

I have long had in my head the idea to make mango French toast, using mango puree in the batter but haven’t gotten around to doing it. Years ago I came up with a great recipe for a food magazine using up leftover eggnog and combining it with blackberries. I loved the taste of the fruit in the toast, much better than too much fruit on top of the French toast.

This year when the Mallika’s made their way into the Crespo Organic Kitchen they just felt perfect for this recipe, and they were and are! While it’s true you can make this recipe with any mango, the fiberless ones are way better.

Instead of the usual  sugary whipped cream found on fruit French toast, I opted for fresh strawberry butter, which you can make just by smashing strawberries and mixing them with softened butter!

Continue Reading…

Featured, Kitchen

Crespo Organic Summer Mango Mania Events Calendar – 2022

June 20, 2022

 

Are you ready for  #MuchosMangoes & #MangoJoy ?

Crespo Organic Summer Mango Mania #MuchosMangoes is here and the Crespo Organic Kitchen is going to make it extra special this summer.

What is Crespo Summer Mango Mania, you might ask? It’s the collision point between our peak production time in Nayarit & Sinaloa and the height of consumer demand, better known as; SUMMER TIME! For two months, in the heat of the summer, between June and August, while orchards are most copious, Mango Mania frenzy ensues! Crespo Organic Summer Mango Mania desires to Educate, Excite Engage and Entice mango consumers with sweet price points and juicy sales, delicious culinary and educational events and a general spreading of useful, relevant mango education.

We offer a full spectrum of creative and reliable resources and experiences, designed to stimulate, and entice purchases at the store level, as well as educate and arouse consumers digitally and in person.  It’s essentially the spreading of #MangoJoy and the building of loyal mango eaters.

  • Social Media Contests & Giveaways
  • Mango Tips & Tricks
  • Demos and Tastings
  • Culinary Education
  • #ChooseYourCut
  • Cooking Classes
  • KICK Events
  • Farmer Talks
  • Commodity Education
  • Recipes and Recipe Videos
  • Swag

All brought to you by the Crespo Organic Kitchen, which is essentially the test kitchen for all things Crespo Organic, managed by me (Nissa)  and my company Ger-Nis Culinary & Herb Center ; a small food  education,   sales & marketing  and media company;  specializing in local, organic, fairly traded,   sustainable food and agricultural. Ger-Nis  supports small global growers and organic brands around the world in with a bevy of services, skills and connections.

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Featured, Kitchen

Bolinas Summer Mango Mania @Smiley’s

June 20, 2022

#MuchosMangoes are coming to Bolinas….RIDE THE WAVE…..

The Crespo Organic Kitchen, the culinary education arm of Crespo Organic Mangoes and part of my produce, marketing and education company- Ger-Nis Culinary  & Herb Center  was located in the beautiful northern, surf and art village of  Bolinas, California for over 6 years. We basically built the Crespo Organic brand from this dreamy place.  This summer,  even though we are not there anymore, we are  still celebrating mangoes & Bolinas BIG TIME. Giving back to the many mango lovers we have discovered there and even some we may have had part of building. The town of Bolinas throws a gigantic weeklong party to celebrate the 4th of July and we thought there was no better time to provide them with and celebrate Crespo Organic Summer Mango Mania!

 

Between July 1st and July 4th Bolinas- specifically Smiley’s will be dripping in sweet organic mangoes…. we encourage you all to come, join in and ride the wave.

Continue Reading…