I feel we could grow more varietals of everything as American palettes expand. I've seen many types of chili peppers in farmer's markets. And I'd put the taste test to Haitian mangos arriving here in early May with the best Alphonses the Indian Subcontinent has to offer ;)

I found Mexican mangoes to be a pale imitation of the Indian varieties. Surprisingly, the best mangoes I have tasted in America were from two huge trees in the backyard of a place we were renting in Hawaii. The trees had shed hundreds of mangoes with hundreds more on the trees themselves, and then caretakers were only too happy to see us enjoy them. Made my Hawaii trip memorable!

Do you mean produce you bought fresh in tropical regions in Mexico e.g. at a local market stall, or produce you bought in a US supermarket, imported from Mexico by a large-scale distributor?

There are great fresh mangoes available in markets in southern Mexico, tastier than the ones easily found in the US. Similar story for other tropical fruits, including bananas. The demands of long-distance shipping and wide distribution force significant compromises in most types of fresh produce.

Disclaimer: I have never been to India.

> best mangoes I have tasted in America were from two huge trees in the backyard ... in Hawaii

Yeah now try to grow those at commercial scale and keep them as tasty weeks later after shipping them hundreds of miles across several layers of supply chain.

Also, for those who have never tried this before: try to make refreshing juice out of Tamarind (available in latino grocery shops) and maybe a spoon of sugar. Super delicious in the summer.

Before Covid we'd drive up to Austin every few month's and resupply on curry paste and a couple other things.

Edit 1: typos Edit 2: More details on what's ailing the rasbaLe and how fickle crops can be here: https://www.thenewsminute.com/article/why-cultivation-karnat...

https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2002-aug-28-fo-banan...