My father was a travel agent back in the mid 50's. One of his customers was an Indian importer named Mr Cambatta. Father did a lot of work for this guy and they became friends.

One time Mr Cambatta had imported mangoes for a deal that fell through. He was left with a number of cases of this very unusual (at that time) and bery perishable fruit. We ended up with two cases - each about the size of a tea chest, from my recollection. I can still remember the first taste of the most exotic food I had experienced. It was mangoes for breakfast every morning for a while and we had to give one case to the local hospital.

It was a long time before mangoes came onto the general market in the UK - at least at prices I could afford - but the taste of a mango still takes me back to one of the most pleasant memories I have of my childhood.