Kent: Super-mango in season now!

No Lois, we’re not talking about your loverboy.  Perhaps one way Clark Kent acquired his incredible power was pounding down plenty of mangoes (yeah, hailing from another planet where people are endowed with super powers probably had something to do with it as well). Mangoes are a nutritionist’s dream: loaded with vitamin A, with some vitamin C and potassium to boot, plus rich in antioxidants. And as Lois knows well, mangoes also are believed to contribute to male virility!

Another reason to love summer: Kent mangoes are in season! Typically gracing our favorite fruit stands in July and August, the Kent mango is distinguished from the other three main varieties (Haden, Tommy Atkins, and Keitt) by its smooth, virtually fiberless flesh. So you can enjoy the aromatic, sweet, yellow fruit without running to the medicine cabinet to find that complimentary floss the dentist gave you but you never used.

Today I scored an entire case of Kent mangoes at 99 Ranch market in Cupertino for the ridiculously low sum of $3.99. That’s right, for the same price as a pair of mangoes you might find at a fancy grocery store in Palo Alto, you get – count ‘em – nine succulent trips to mango heaven. Gotta love the Chinese supermarket!

 

99 Ranch Market

10983 N. Wolfe Road

Cupertino, CA 95014

(408) 343-3699

 

Comments

[Zoli Erdos]

Wow, I had no clue there were so many varieties of mangos... but I do know every time I read your blog I end up taking a trip to the kitchen :-)

[Blake Williams]

What a great blog - I'm going to go to Ranch99 tonight before they close and get a case!

[Doug Klein]

Ok, ok, Kathy's off to get mangoes. Might I suggest a slightly longer journey, however? A slight stretch on your blog goal (local food), but what about fruit in the central valley? For the past (more than I care to remember at this moment) years I have made the trek from the bay area to the Sierra's (my in-laws cabin) with multiple stops in the fruit stands in Manteca, Escalon, and beyond. We enjoy simple native fruits at 10% prices every summer. A weekend trip to the gold country (try the olive oil in Jamestown) can do wonders to ground a typical SV entrepreneur (and yes, VC :) in the real world, especially in our current days of (Oh, sh*t, I moved to Phoenix and forgot to reset the air conditioner) hot weather ...

[Tom Cole]

Great idea Doug -- I love a good fruit stand (and paying 10 cents on the dollar!).

[Doug Klein]

Two good samples to start with, both within an hour of the bay (give or take an hour delay on the 580 death trap):

Jack Tone road. A typical "big" stand. Lots of good selection, check out the "take and bake" local pies. Excellent summer delights. On the southwest corner.

Fisher farms (right past the intersection of French Camp Road and 120, on the north side of the 120). Locally grown, small selection, the favorite spot of my wife and mother-in-law (read as "politically correct" :). One price 'per pound' for whatever they have at the time you show up. Not a place to linger (something about the semi's grinding by on a regular basis) but worth the stop for the fruit.

I can't give specific directions in Jamestown but it really doesn't matter. The main street is small enough that there is only one of everything. The ice cream store is a great treat (north side of the street, towards Sonora) and the general store across from the small central town park has wonderful local olive oils (with, of course, the prerequisite tasting bar :) and an entire wall of hot sauces for those that have the odd desire to relocate to Santa Fe in some form of after-life.