Mango

Take a mango in your hand before you decide anything. Squeeze it gently, the way you'd check a peach. If it gives a little and springs back, it's ready. If it's hard as a stone, leave it on the counter; it will come round in a few days. Colour tells you almost nothing — a mango can turn red or gold and still be sour. Smell is the truth-teller: a ripe mango breathes sweetness through its skin, right at the stem end, honeyed and a bit resinous. No smell, no rush.

Some people say a mango must be soft all over to be ready. No! Squeeze the whole fruit gently, and if it yields but still feels plump and holds its shape, that's exactly right. That misconception leads to a common mistake: people wait for the whole fruit to go squishy, and by then it smells sharp, almost boozy, instead of sweet, and the flesh turns watery and dull. Trust the smell and that gentle give in your palm, not a mushy fruit, and you'll catch it exactly when its 60 kilocalories per hundred grams taste like they should — clean, sweet, alive.