Hapus - The King of Mangoes

Hapus - The King of Mangoes, originally uploaded by firoze shakir photographerno1.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alphonso_%28mango%29

Alphonso (हापुस Haapoos in Marathi, Aapoos in North Karnataka Kannada) is a mango cultivar that is considered by many to be one of the best in terms of sweetness and flavor although it does have a short shelf life. It is also one of the most expensive kinds of mango and is grown mainly in western India and south east Pakistan. It is in season April through May and the fruit weigh between 150g and 300g each.

It is named after Afonso de Albuquerque. This was an exquisite and expensive variety of mango, that he used to bring on his journeys to Goa. The locals took to calling it Aphoos in Konkani and in Maharashtra the pronunciation got further transformed to Hapoos. This variety then was taken to the Konkan region of Maharashtra and other parts of India.

The southern district of Ratnagiri and south northern parts of Sindhudurg in Maharashtra state, including regions around the Devgad and Taluka, produce the finest quality alphonso mangoes in India. Alphonso is also cultivated largely in Pune. The southern districts of Valsad and Navsari in Gujarat state and particularly Alphonso mangoes from the Amalsad region (including villages such as Dhamadachha, Kacholi, and all villages of Gandevi) produce Alphonso mangoes as well. Southern States in India are also major mango producing areas. From north to south, climatic changes occur which result in differences in the quality of the produce. Even in Ratnagiri and Devgad the finest fruit comes from a patch of 20 km from the seashore.

The variety grown in Devgad in the Kokan region of Maharashtra is supposed to be the best. It's also the most expensive amongst the sub-breeds of Alphonso. In most of the Indian market sub-varieties are fetching the price of good quality alfonso. These varieties neither have the sweetness, nor have the flavour of hapoos.

The Alphonso is generally referred to as 'Hapoos' throughout South Asia.

In April 2007 the United States lifted its ban on the import of Indian mangoes, including the Alphonso. The first batch of alphonso mangoes arrived in the US after an 18 year hiatus. The ban on imports has also been lifted by other major countries like Japan and China.

Haapus is used to make sweets, candies and smoothies - Mango Milkshake, Mango Lassi (both smoothies), Aamba-Wadi (a gummy, chewy mango candy), Aam-Ras (Mango pulp which is eaten with puris - an Indian Bread), Sakhar Amba (Marathi word for a home-made mango jelly/jam), Mango barfi (a type of Aamba-Wadi), etc. Non aerated Mango drinks like Frooti (Parle Agro Co.), Jumpin (Godrej Industries), Maaza (Coca Cola Co.), Dukes Mangola and Slice (PepsiCo Inc.) are very popular in India. Many other local brands are also available. Alphonso mangoes are mostly exported from Ratnagiri in Maharashtra.