It was hard to go out and find something to eat. Superstores opened, restaurants opened, but there were no customers, because people were scared, and this caused the owners to close their stores temporarily.

Markets were quiet too. It was not easy even to buy food to store in the fridge.

I like fruit. But these days the fruit that is available in my fridge is apples.

Oh, so bored.

Luckily, my neighbor grew mangoes, and they brought them to sell – it helped me to be able to have different fruit, besides apples, to eat.

There were only two kinds of mango my family bought. One was Swary Keo Jen (Swary [s-w-a:-y] means mango), and another was called Sway Thai.

Swary Keo Jen is the most expensive mango among mangoes in Cambodia. Because it is delicious. When it is ripe, it smells good, its meat is sweet, and it is juicy. This kind of mango is available during Khmer New Year, from April to May or June.

Though it brings you joy and energy, you shouldn’t eat much because it can cause you fever. Some people get diarrhea when they eat too much.

Another mango is Swary Thai. We call it this because its origin is from Thailand. It is green both ripe and unripe. It has no smell. If you want to know if it is ripe or not yet, you have to touch and press it gently. If it is soft, it is ripe.

Swary Tai is not sweet like Swary Keo Jen. Its sweetness is so little. However, it is a good point since you can eat any time and as much as you wish; it does not bring you fever.

Swary Tai does not have high prices like Swary Keo Jen, but it is quite popular, and Cambodians eat it both ripe and young.

There are many kinds of Swary in Cambodia, but I cannot describe them to you now. I will try to find the origin of the Khmer mango to show you.

Thanks for reading. See you in the next article.