Mango & Szechuan Pepper Sorbet

I hesitate to admit this broadly, but students who have taken my undergraduate courses know that I always include at least one exam question that features "Larry the Mango Lover," a fictional aficionado of mangoes. Larry often finds himself without access to the mangoes he loves, and the questions (which do tie directly back to course concepts, just for the record) are about how he resolves this situation. In a course about online social support, Larry turns to the Mango Aficionados Networking Group Online (yes, MANGO) for help.  When we discuss common ground in communication, Larry helps his friend pick out the right mango to bring home from the Asian grocery ("Is it yellow?" "Ok, but is the end more pointy or round?"). You get the idea.

More than one student has figured out that Larry is a thinly veiled and somewhat exaggerated version of yours truly. I haven't turned to online support groups for mango lovers, but I certainly do miss good mangos when I'm in Ithaca. And that's why, on a recent trip to an Indian grocery in Syracuse, I didn't blink at the idea of bringing home a box of 20 or so small Ataulfo mangos from Mexico.

Schezuan Peppercorns

I've got plans for these mangos. Of course, I'll eat one every morning with some plain yogurt for breakfast. But they won't all last that long. I'm also planning a mango gazpacho. Maybe some mango salsa (which are both actually pretty similar). And the topic of today's post: mango sorbet.

Not just any mango sorbet, though. I added Szechuan peppercorns just to make it interesting. For those who don't know them, Szechuan peppercorns are a dried berry that is both spicy and (literally) mouth-numbing. Spice goes nicely with mango, so I figured this would be worth trying.

Steeping syrup

To get the peppercorn flavor into the sorbet, I steeped a few tablespoons of them in the simple syrup that would sweeten the sorbet. I brought these to a boil and let steep for about 5 hours. Then I sliced up a few mangos (about 2 pounds worth, or 5 small ones) and put these in the blender with the syrup (1 cup, peppercorns strained out), juice from one lime, a tablespoon of clear rum (to prevent ice crystals) and a bit of sorbet stabilizer (to prevent more ice crystals). This was then frozen in the ice cream maker.

Finished Sorbet

The result is tasty. It's sweet like mango and has a very slight hint of the peppercorns, with a very slight bite. It's interesting and I like it, but I wonder if there's a way to punch up the spice a bit. Maybe a tiny bit of salt, or leaving some cracked peppercorns in the mix next time.