ENTRY: mangaba
CLASS: noun
SCIENTIFIC NAME: Hancornia speciosa
EQUIVALENT: mangaba
DEFINITION: Plum-sized sweet fruit with white pulp and red-spotted yellow skin, eaten raw when ripe or made into ice-cream, sweets, conserves, juices and wine.
EXAMPLE: Wash the mangabas thoroughly and pierce them with a fork to extract the white liquid under the skin.
SOURCE: Sabores da Cozinha Brasileira
COMMENT: Native to Brazil and found mostly in the caatinga and in the cerrado, mangaba is very perishable once ripe. That’s why it is normally consumed fresh in the Northeast, where it is abundant. In other regions of the country, it is easier to find the frozen pulp which. Rich in vitamin C, its name comes from the tupi language and means ‘something good to eat’ because of its sweetness and softnes.