'We look forward to it the whole year': It's mango season in northeast Calgary

There's a debate that comes around every summer in Calgary's South Asian community: which country has the tastiest mangoes?

Is it India, or Pakistan? The two countries share thousands of different varieties between them but most Canadians outside of immigrant communities haven't seen or tasted even one. 

Grocery stores in the northeast use social media to alert mango lovers when a new shipment arrives. 

Boxes are labelled with flight information, with bright yellow mangoes arriving at Calgary International Airport via Karachi and Mumbai.

They don't last long, and it can be adventure trawling ethnic grocery stores trying to find them. The sweet, juicy mangoes look and taste a lot different from the varieties you'll find at mainstream Canadian grocery chains.

Varieties like Indian Kesar and Alphonso mangoes and Pakistan's Chonsa and Sindhri mangoes taste like a spoonful of honey with a unique floral bouquet that fills kitchens all over northeast Calgary.

For many, the sweet summer treat provides a comforting connection to home and opens the door to hazy mango memories.

"We wait for it all year. It just reminds me of Indian summers," said Bianca Smetacek.

"We lived in a village and when mango season would come our friends with mango orchards would come and bring them in big baskets. We didn't have electricity, so we'd cool them in buckets of water and then we would eat them," said Smetacek.

"I've been here 18 years and still the smell of mangoes takes me back to evenings sitting on the balcony with my family," she said.

Smetacek says mangoes are also used by in cooking, to make drinks like lassi, in pickles and chutneys, and with leaves and flowers being used in some religious rituals.

And like everything involving India and Pakistan, from politics to cricket, there's a fierce rivalry, with summer bringing some heated mango nationalism to living rooms and phone screens.

"It's like which steak is best, Alberta or Texas?" said Smetacek. "Everybody thinks theirs is best. Every region has a variety, and there are hundreds of different ones."

"Most of my friends, when they try one ... it's an awakening, there's no going back," she said.

Fuelling the mango fever are small independent stores like Ramadan Catering in Castleridge. They sell only Pakistani mangoes.

"Chonsa are the sweetest," said Irfan Javed, speaking about a variety that comes from Punjab Province.

"I have really good demand. People are asking 'when are the Pakistani mangoes coming, when are the Pakistani mangoes coming?'" he said.

"The smell is good and the taste is really juicy, really sweet. These are different to the other mangoes," said Javed.

Customers say it reminds them of their childhood, when mangoes were abundant and money wasn't an issue.

Javed's Pakistani mangoes cost anywhere from $14 to nearly $40, depending on the size of the box.

"I put it on Facebook and the people, they'll be here," said Javed.