Messy Mango

            Whenever I purchase a mango, I am so eager to eat it that I get a knife out and slice it every which way. During my last attempt I managed to get juice all over the surface I was cutting on, as well as, all over my face. Let’s just say that my annoyingly sensitive skin was not too happy. I am sure that many of you already know the proper way to cut a mango, but for those who don’t know, here is a little tutorial on what to do and what not to do. When searching for “how to cut a mango,” I came across this blog which demonstrates what not to do. I found it pretty amusing (mostly because I could relate.)The author first skins the mango and proceeds from there to make a mess (I did not skin my mango, but the overall mess is pretty accurate).  Here are a few images with their respective captions from here blog:

So, my dear little chickadees,, here is how NOT to cut a mango. First, grab your mango and hold it upright. (How do you know if it's ripe? A whole lot of guessing.*)
*Usually I just think, "Is it giving in to slight pressure? It might be ripe then."

She then skins the mango.

You'll eventually want to cut off the belly button end of the mango, to give yourself a nice base to set on the board. Things will get slippery, and quite difficult, and you might nearly cut yourself a few times....

…but you’ll reach the point where all that’s left is the little ‘cap’ on the end.

Cut that off, and then cut around the pit.

This will take some guesswork. I just pick a point and then apply some pressure to see if the knife will cut all the way through.

You’ll eventually end up with two larger pieces and two smaller pieces…

…plus a whole lot of tiny chunks that you scrape off of the pit.

If you want to end up with only a small fraction of your mango, I'd recommend not following the directions above. So now that you've seen what not to do, here is a video demonstrating what to do. 

I also came across a website called the kitchn, http://www.thekitchn.com/how-to-peel-cut-core-and-seed--174347. It not only deomstrates how to dice a mango, but how to peel, cut, dice, seed, and open various fruits and vegetables.