VICTORIA AND ABDUL – MANGOES To celebrate the release of the upcoming film Victoria and Abdul, Amanda calls in Miguel for some expert advice when it comes to mangoes. As The Living Room’s very own monarch, Amanda gets Miguel to show her the best ways to get the most out of a mango. ABOUT VICTORIA AND ABDUL Victoria and Albert met when they were young with Albert sending many letters to Victoria. She grew up under the control of her widowed mother so when she became queen at 18 she longed for freedom and didn’t want to marry. Albert travelled to England with the intention of breaking off all communication with Victoria. As soon as they saw each other though, it was love at first sight. Just five days later, Victoria proposed and they were married on February 10th, 1840. Over the next 17 years, they had nine children together and effectively ruled the British Empire as a couple. Albert died at just 42, some 40 years before Victoria passed. For the second half of her life, Queen Victoria never remarried. It wasn’t until Abdul Karim, a young clerk from India travelled to England for Victoria’s Golden Jubilee celebrations the Queen found another companion. Despite the people around her disapproving, Queen Victoria and Abdul struck up a unique bond. This is depicted in the film, Victoria and Abdul. The film is the extraordinary true story of an unexpected friendship in the later years of Queen Victoria’s remarkable rule. When Abdul Karim, a young clerk, travels from India to participate in the Queen’s Golden Jubilee, he is surprised to find favour with the Queen herself. As the Queen questions the constrictions of her long-held position, the two forge an unlikely and devoted alliance with a loyalty to one another that her household and inner circle all attempt to destroy. As the friendship deepens, the Queen begins to see a changing world through new eyes and joyfully reclaims her humanity. The film is directed by the Academy Award-nominated Stephen Frears (The Queen) and stars Dame Judi Dench, Ali Fazal, Eddie Izzard, Adeel Ahktar and Tim Piggott- Smith. The film is showing in cinemas from 14th September and is distributed by Universal. ABOUT MANGOES Mangoes are the national fruit of India. In the film, Queen Victoria has never heard of or seen one before so on Karim’s recommendation, she orders her men to bring her a mango to try. At the time, India was part of the British Empire. The mango comes from the Asian subcontinent with evidence that it first appeared up to 30 million years ago in northeast India, Myanmar and Bangladesh. These areas have grown mangoes for domestic use for almost 4000 years. History suggests that Buddhist monks took mangoes with them on voyages dating back to the 5th century BC. When the Portuguese arrived in India in the 1500s, mangoes spread in earnest across the world ending up in Australia by the 1800s. Mangoes are a tropical fruit that grow on a tree that can reach up to 40 metres tall. There are over 400 varieties known across the world. They have a long, flat seed on the inside of the fruit. To slice properly, look for the crease on the fruit and cut along the side of the crease – not against it. Do this on the other side to remove both of the cheeks of the mango. You can use a large serving spoon to scoop out as much flesh as possible. With the cheek removed from the skin, you can thinly slice for salads, cut in cubes or eat whole. Alternatively, you can place the mango in the freezer and scoop the frozen cheeks out with a teaspoon creating an all natural mango sorbet. Don’t let that middle pip go to waste – slice off the remaining skin and squeeze the entire core to add to a salad dressing or cocktail. WEBSITE LINKS Universal Pictures Australia http://www.universalpictures.com.au Victoria & Abdul Movie Website http://www.victoriaandabdul.com.au Thanks to Australian Mangoes for supplying fresh mangoes http://www.industry.mangoes.net.au .