💬 I always eat the mango seed and nobody else wants it

In our house the mango seed is mine. It's been mine since I was 8 and nobody argues. My mother cuts the 2 big cheeks into cubes for everyone. The rest goes on a plate, seed included, to me. I take it out to the balcony step and sit there with both hands round it. Juice runs down to my elbows. My cousins watch from the door like I'm doing something illegal. It takes about 15 minutes to do properly. First the skin comes off, in strips, with my teeth. Then you bite the flesh off the sides, and then the fibres near the seed, which are the best part. My father says it's more hair than fruit. He's right, I've had hair on my tongue since June. I still wouldn't swap it for a clean cube from the plate. My brother tried it once last summer. He lasted 2 minutes, then handed it back with a face. He said, there's no fruit on this. I said, you're doing it wrong, go slower. He didn't. He's one of those people who eats mango with a knife and fork. My aunt visited in May, watched me for a while, and asked if I was still 8. I said yes. There's one rule. After the seed is clean I wash it and put it on the windowsill to dry. I've planted 3 so far in a pot on the balcony. 2 never came up. One has 4 leaves. My mother says it won't fruit for 8 years, if ever. I told her I'm patient. She laughed so hard she had to sit down, and then asked who'd be watering it.

Juice running down to the elbows and cousins watching from the door like it is illegal, I love this. In our house my grandfather got the seed, and he ate it with a pinch of salt, which my mother said was the proper way. Do you scrape the fibre with your teeth or a knife? There is an art to it.

My brother in law is the same with chicken bones. He says that's where the taste lives. I tried a mango seed once at 12 and had fibre stuck in my teeth for a whole day. Now I just stare at people who enjoy it. 15 minutes of silence is impressive though. Do you soak the seed before planting? Mine rotted in the pot and I blame the tap water.