If you're feeling the autumnal doldrums (it was downright brisk outside yesterday) or already weary of of grapes and apples, I have the tropical antidote: Mexico-grown Kent mangoes.

Last September, I wrote here about these mangoes. Tart, creamy and sweet, they represent absolute balance and perfection. The kind of mango that a knife slices through like butter. If a chef could create something so perfect, he would be God, is what I'm saying.

Right on time, Kents are back in season and just as awe-inspiring. (Please don't be alarmed by the green skin, often accompanied by black spots; just choose them for their ripeness.) Although last year I got them at the produce market on Valencia and 24th Street (where they're currently carrying them for $1.75), this time, I found them a block away for half the price—half!—at the S&H Produce Market at 2949 Mission Street near 25th for 80 cents. They're huge too. One mango can feed two.


You can beat a 40 cent breakfast, really—which is the time of day I eat my mango with a spoonful of plain Greek yogurt. (I know, I know: Alice Waters could probably feed 20 people with two of them.) But barring a mango banquet, my most favorite preparation has to be Thai-style on top of coconut sticky rice. Click here for a recipe from , Kasma Loha-unchit, one of my favorite local Thai cooking school teachers.