Mango Shake, With or Without Milk?

Sometimes, we get the kick out of making complex recipes with extra long names that no one really understands except ourselves and the one who created the recipe.  When we have the chef-like confidence serum pumping in our veins, we conquer the world of cooking.   Then when the final dish is ready, we look at what we made alternately with the picture of the dish we were trying to copy, slowly at first then rapidly, with panic written all over our faces. 

"Why does the picture have a beautiful shade of red and mine is faded orange?  And how come that picture is effectively making me very hungry and making me want to eat the monitor?  Mine, well, mine, is telling me the opposite.  Is that even edible?  Run for your life!" 

We all have horror stories in cooking.  I have a lot, just like my neighbor who seems to have everything under control in the kitchen and gives us rustic pies that makes it imperative to close your eyes and enjoy.  Or just like that friend who prepares extraordinary dinners for her guests.  Everything seems perfect.  But when we speak about our kitchen adventures, we outdo each other with our own disaster stories that we were locking in boxes and never be heard of again.  I always feel consoled finding out that I am not alone.  It's true that we become better with every mistake we make. 

And here we move to simplification.  Three ingredients and press blend.  Isn't that easy?  

After years of staying in Italy, I have long abandoned the hope of getting Philippine mangoes or anything similar to their taste.  There are imported mangoes at the fruit stands but the variety is totally different.  Then we discovered the ones from Pakistan at the Asian market in Rome.  They are so sweet and intense that the first bite is always a shock to the taste buds.  Finally, there are mangoes to enjoy.  One of the ways I enjoy mangoes is drinking them.  I made two versions, one with milk (I used almond milk because of my aversion to cow's milk.) and one without milk.  I ran a little survey in my personal Facebook to ask my friends how they drink their mango shakes and I got an interesting result.  Most of them replied without.  Some wrote with because after all, isn't that just a slushy mango juice in the end, quoting a comment.

The bottom line is, it depends on how you want to drink it.  If you have the right mango, nothing else matters anymore.   

Cin cin (Cheers)!

Mango Shake

Ingredients:
Makes 1 glass

• 1 fresh ripe mango, pulp
• 1/4 cup water (only if drinking without milk)
• 1/4 cup milk (omit water and replace with milk if drinking with milk )
• ice

Directions:

1. If drinking without milk, mix mango pulp, water & ice in a blender and blend until smooth.
2. If drinking with milk, mix mango pulp, milk & ice in a blender and blend until smooth
3. Serve immediately.