mangos as green peppers in Indiana
 

<< Mango: Ha! You thought it was a tropical fruit. For some weird reason,
> a lot of folks around Bloomington and Terre Haute use this word to
> describe a green pepper. >><BR><BR>

yes, it really confused me when in Indiana, I first heard my mother-in-law ask
me to pick her some "mangos" for the salad 26 years ago a few months after my
wife and I were married. I am from NJ and didn't have a clue about tropical
fruit or why she would want it for a salad. They are in the Muncie area. Any
idea how that came into "indiana speak"?

<< Mango: Ha! You thought it was a tropical fruit. For some weird reason,
> a lot of folks around Bloomington and Terre Haute use this word to
> describe a green pepper. >><BR><BR>

yes, it really confused me when in Indiana, I first heard my mother-in-law ask
me to pick her some "mangos" for the salad 26 years ago a few months after my
wife and I were married. I am from NJ and didn't have a clue about tropical
fruit or why she would want it for a salad. They are in the Muncie area. Any
idea how that came into "indiana speak"?

<< Mango: Ha! You thought it was a tropical fruit. For some weird reason,
> a lot of folks around Bloomington and Terre Haute use this word to
> describe a green pepper. >><BR><BR>

yes, it really confused me when in Indiana, I first heard my mother-in-law ask
me to pick her some "mangos" for the salad 26 years ago a few months after my
wife and I were married. I am from NJ and didn't have a clue about tropical
fruit or why she would want it for a salad. They are in the Muncie area. Any
idea how that came into "indiana speak"?

Not just in Indianna - I have an Atlas Canning book, circa 1920's with
recipe for canning stuffed "mangos" (green bell peppers). IIRC, Atlas
Glass was in W. VA, bought out by Continental Can, and later closed.

Kacey

John213a wrote:
> << Mango: Ha! You thought it was a tropical fruit. For some weird reason,
>
>>a lot of folks around Bloomington and Terre Haute use this word to
>>describe a green pepper. >><BR><BR>
>
>
> yes, it really confused me when in Indiana, I first heard my mother-in-law ask
> me to pick her some "mangos" for the salad 26 years ago a few months after my
> wife and I were married. I am from NJ and didn't have a clue about tropical
> fruit or why she would want it for a salad. They are in the Muncie area. Any
> idea how that came into "indiana speak"?


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Mark Zanger wrote: << I would guess that the green peppers were also pickled,
and called mangos by analogy like the cukes. >>

In the Cincinnati Recipe Treasury (Ohio University Press, 1983; p. 213) there
is a 1938 Hamersville, Ohio, letter which mentions "mango pickles" and on the
following page a recipe from Hamersville for "Mango Pickle."

In the recipe, green peppers are soaked overnight in salted water, then stuffed
with ground cabbage and pickled in a vinegar, sugar, mustard seed "syrup."

Robert

Mark Zanger wrote: << I would guess that the green peppers were also pickled,
and called mangos by analogy like the cukes. >>

In the Cincinnati Recipe Treasury (Ohio University Press, 1983; p. 213) there
is a 1938 Hamersville, Ohio, letter which mentions "mango pickles" and on the
following page a recipe from Hamersville for "Mango Pickle."

In the recipe, green peppers are soaked overnight in salted water, then stuffed
with ground cabbage and pickled in a vinegar, sugar, mustard seed "syrup."

Robert

On 18 Sep 2004 15:17:58 GMT, (John213a) wrote:

><< Mango: Ha! You thought it was a tropical fruit. For some weird reason,
>> a lot of folks around Bloomington and Terre Haute use this word to
>> describe a green pepper. >><BR><BR>
>
>yes, it really confused me when in Indiana, I first heard my mother-in-law ask
>me to pick her some "mangos" for the salad 26 years ago a few months after my
>wife and I were married. I am from NJ and didn't have a clue about tropical
>fruit or why she would want it for a salad. They are in the Muncie area. Any
>idea how that came into "indiana speak"?
Then you can imagine my horror when I was travelling in Ohio, and the
people I was staying with were talking about ordering a pizza.
Debating the choices of toppings, quite a few votes were for
"mangoes"- I couldn't imagine anything more unappealing on a pizza :-P
.. I was assured they were delicious- well, I don't like mangoes (the
fruit kind) at the best of times and was pretty sure I wasn't going to
like them any better on a pizza (what a desecration!) I was
pleasantly surprised when the pizza arrived to find they meant
capsicum peppers. I was always puzzled as to how they came to be
referred to as "mangoes".
CJ

On 18 Sep 2004 15:17:58 GMT, (John213a) wrote:

><< Mango: Ha! You thought it was a tropical fruit. For some weird reason,
>> a lot of folks around Bloomington and Terre Haute use this word to
>> describe a green pepper. >><BR><BR>
>
>yes, it really confused me when in Indiana, I first heard my mother-in-law ask
>me to pick her some "mangos" for the salad 26 years ago a few months after my
>wife and I were married. I am from NJ and didn't have a clue about tropical
>fruit or why she would want it for a salad. They are in the Muncie area. Any
>idea how that came into "indiana speak"?
Then you can imagine my horror when I was travelling in Ohio, and the
people I was staying with were talking about ordering a pizza.
Debating the choices of toppings, quite a few votes were for
"mangoes"- I couldn't imagine anything more unappealing on a pizza :-P
.. I was assured they were delicious- well, I don't like mangoes (the
fruit kind) at the best of times and was pretty sure I wasn't going to
like them any better on a pizza (what a desecration!) I was
pleasantly surprised when the pizza arrived to find they meant
capsicum peppers. I was always puzzled as to how they came to be
referred to as "mangoes".
CJ

> wrote

> Then you can imagine my horror when I was travelling in
> Ohio, and the
> people I was staying with were talking about ordering a
> pizza.
> Debating the choices of toppings, quite a few votes were
> for
> "mangoes"- I couldn't imagine anything more unappealing on
> a pizza :-P
> . I was assured they were delicious- well, I don't like
> mangoes (the
> fruit kind) at the best of times and was pretty sure I
> wasn't going to
> like them any better on a pizza (what a desecration!) I
> was
> pleasantly surprised when the pizza arrived to find they
> meant
> capsicum peppers. I was always puzzled as to how they
> came to be
> referred to as "mangoes".

I spent close on three months in Bloomington without running
into this one but according to Webster's Unabridged:

"3 a (1) : a vegetable (as a sweet pepper) stuffed (as with
shredded cabbage) and then pickled (2) : a pickled mango
melon b chiefly Midland : a large round sweet pepper"

("mango." Webster's Third New International Dictionary,
Unabridged. Merriam-Webster, 2002.
http://unabridged.merriam-webster.com ( 20 Sep. 2004).)

It's not just Indiana in other words. It *would* be
interesting to know where and how this usage got started. It
may be time to include alt.english.usage or
alt.usage.english in this loop.

--
Bob
Kanyak's Doghouse
http://www.kanyak.com

Bob wrote << It *would* be interesting to know where and how this usage
["mango" for a stuffed and pickled vegetable] got started. >>

According to the Browns (America Cooks, 1940, p. 115), stuffed vegetables were
called mangoes because there were few mangoes in America. They theorized:

"Mangoes make good jelly, marmalade, and preserves, but next to mango chutney
the historic favorite is stuffed mango pickles as made in India and eaten in
England. British-American ancestors of ours missed their accustomed pickle,
when trading ships from the Orient were few and far between, and invented a
number of substitutes, so that in America "stuffed mangoes" may mean green
peppers stuffed with a chopped cabbage mixture and pickled, stuffed and pickled
small muskmelons, even stuffed and pickled unripe peaches (the last two being
sweet pickles). In India nearly ripe mangoes are peeled, split, and seeded,
sprinkled with salt and laid in the sun for a couple of days, then wiped dry.
The seed cavities are filled with stuffing, and the halves are put together
again and tied with thread. Boiling vinegar is poured over, reheated, and
poured over again for four successive days. Stuffing varies, a typical recipe
being: [and a recipe follows]"

In The Recipe Book of Lillie Hitchcock Coit (San Francisco, written 1870-1880),
a recipe for "Mangoes" is made with stuffed and pickled muskmelons. (p. 44.)

Robert

> According to the Browns (America Cooks, 1940, p. 115), stuffed
> vegetables were called mangoes because there were few mangoes
> in America. They theorized:
>
> "Mangoes make good jelly, marmalade, and preserves, but next to
> mango chutney the historic favorite is stuffed mango pickles as
> made in India and eaten in England.

How the hell do you stuff a mango?

*Sliced* mango pickle is common enough, but usually the skin is thrown
away, which makes creating a stuffable container out of what's left an
interesting exercise. Like making sandwiches with porridge instead of
bread.

I suspect the Browns, whoever they were, never saw a mango either.

You could stuff a bell pepper *with* pickled mango, though I've never
seen it. If something like that ever existed it might explain the US
usage.

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> According to the Browns (America Cooks, 1940, p. 115), stuffed
> vegetables were called mangoes because there were few mangoes
> in America. They theorized:
>
> "Mangoes make good jelly, marmalade, and preserves, but next to
> mango chutney the historic favorite is stuffed mango pickles as
> made in India and eaten in England.

How the hell do you stuff a mango?

*Sliced* mango pickle is common enough, but usually the skin is thrown
away, which makes creating a stuffable container out of what's left an
interesting exercise. Like making sandwiches with porridge instead of
bread.

I suspect the Browns, whoever they were, never saw a mango either.

You could stuff a bell pepper *with* pickled mango, though I've never
seen it. If something like that ever existed it might explain the US
usage.

========> Email to "j-c" at this site; email to "bogus" will bounce <========
Jack Campin: 11 Third Street, Newtongrange, Midlothian EH22 4PU; 0131 6604760
<http://www.purr.demon.co.uk/purrhome.html> food intolerance data & recipes,
Mac logic fonts, Scots traditional music files and CD-ROMs of Scottish music.