Malik’s Page

12 Austin South Asian | July 2021 Pakistani Mangoes A Hot Sell Out Despite High Price And Limited Availabilty

By Sumaiya Malik

When it comes to Pakistani mangoes, Hasan Gondal puts aside all the dietary restrictions he likes to follow. The months of June and July, mango peak season, is the time when his house in Dubai serves mango milkshakes during the day and cut up mango as after dinner dessert every night. This is a fruit he has enjoyed even while growing up. “My first mango memory is the mango party in Karachi, Pakistan, family sitting outside in the garden, a table with different varieties of mangoes in steel buckets and melting ice, friends and sibblings playing outside right after sunset, a casual scene with with a hum of conversation and music.

Now in his forties, Gondal still enjoys this “king of fruit” with as much fan fare in Dubai as he did in Pakistan. Fortunately for him, Dubai is a mango hub. Pakistani mango varieties such as Sindhri, Anwar Ratole, Chaunsa and Dusehri flood the market. This is the city from where mangoes from Pakistan fly to the US. A USDA team stationed in Dubai inspects each mango box and tapes the US seal of approval. The process has taken some years to streamline and puts a high price on the fruit once imported into the United States.

In the U.S., in Austin, Texas, a mango box weighing 2 kg (~4-5 large sized Sindhri mangoes or ~1215 smaller Anwar Ratole) is being sold at $35. The high box price is partly due to $10 per box cost of air freight.

Despite the high price, Pakistani mangoes which are known for superior flavor, fragrance, and texture, are available in limited quantities in Austin. An eager clientele is willing to pay the higher price even though less expensive Mexican mangoes flood the local grocery stores. The mango season – June and July – is celebrated by mango lovers in Austin the same way as it is in Dubai and Pakistan. Mango export from Pakistan to the U.S. officially began in 2017 when producers in Pakistan interested in export stopped using pesticides containing Freon, a colorless and odourless gas that is detrimental to health. This was one of the criteria set up by the U.S. Plant Protection and Quarantine (PPQ), a government agency that protects against the entry, establishment, and spread of pests, and facilitate the safe trade of agricultural products, PPQ website said. Other criteria

How To Travel Domestic In Covid-19 Pandemic

By Sumaiya Malik

When I travelled to Washington D.C. two weeks after receiving the second dose of Moderna Vaccine, I had to wear a mask. Fortunately for me, I was wearing a cloth mask and not a disposable one. It was gentle to my skin, and I felt comfortable. More than that, I felt safe from the exposure to Covid-19. I thought travel restrictions had changed but not by much.

Now that summer is here it’s best to understand how best to travel keeping in mind the Center of Disease Control, CDC, recommendations so that one is not caught off guard. A section of the U.S. population is vaccinated and rules of wearing a mask are relaxed. We decided to compile a list of recommendations by the Center of Disease Control, CDC, for domestic travel for our readers.

“People who are fully vaccinated with an FDA-authorized vaccine or a vaccine authorized for emergency use by the World Health Organization can travel safely within the United States,” CDC website said.

People are considered fully vaccinated if it has been two weeks after they have taken the second dose of the 2-dose series of Pfizer or Moderna vaccines, or two weeks have passed after a single-dose vaccine of Johnson & Johnson’s Janssen vaccine. If you don’t meet these requirements, regardless of your age, you are NOT fully vaccinated. Fully vaccinated people are required to wear a mask over their nose and mouth on all public transportation and while indoors as in airports and stations. They are not required to wear a mask outdoors and even on the top deck of a bus. It might still be best to check each state’s recommendation when planning a trip. You do NOT need to get tested or self-quarantine if you are fully vaccinated or have recovered from COVID-19 in the past 3 months. You should still follow all other travel recommendations. People who are not vaccinated but have not been exposed to Covid-19 virus do not need to get tested if they do not have COVID-19 symptoms. People who have tested positive for COVID-19 within the past 3 months and recovered, as long as they do not develop new symptoms, do not need to get tested.

Those who have been exposed need to self-quarantine and take Viral test that can be performed in a laboratory, at a testing site. Two types of viral tests are used: nucleic acid amplification tests (NAATs) and antigen tests. Both tests require a nasal swab.

Always make sure to check travel restrictions in the city you are visiting. In my case, since Washington D.C. had less of its population vaccinated compared to Austin, Texas, I found more restrictions in D.C. than in Austin. include size and shape of the box, ventilation holes, a certificate disclosing the kind of pesticide used, description labels and the level of ripeness at the time of inspection in Dubai. Limited shelf life of mangoes is the reason why they are airshipped to the US where wholesalers with importer license are expecting their supply. The presence of the USDA seal expedites handling. Stores such as World Food and Halal Market on Lamar Blvd. in Austin, pick up their orders from the wholesalers in Houston.

According to Liaqat Ali Syed, owner of World Food, most of the mango cases he orders are sold within a few hours of reaching his store. “We have a list of customers who buy Pakistani mangoes from us year after year,” Ali Syed said who has run the store for 22 years. His employees call the list of customers waiting for the Pakistani mangoes. “Chaunsa is my favorite mango,” Dr. Nadeem Malik who buys the fruit from the store said. Malik in Austin, like Gondal in Dubai, grew up in Pakistan eating mangoes every summer. The fruit to him has nostalgic value. Customers buy up to 5 cases in one go to share with family and friends. They stand by the quality and flavor as surpassing all competetors in local grocery stores.

Quality Halal Market, another store that sells Pakistani mangoes has been around in Cedar Park for ten years. “We bring 50 to 70 boxes - mix and match - 20 boxes of each variety,” Syed Ali the owner of the grocery store said on the phone. The store even ships mangoes through FedEx to customers who have moved to New Orleans.Both the grocery stores were expecting the next delivery the following day and were already in touch with customers who like Gondal and Malik, enjoy mangoes. When asked why he is still willing to pay such a high price per box for mangoes in Austin, Malik joked, “The cost of these mangoes is small compared to the price of a ticket to Pakistan.” At the end of the day, whether in Dubai or Austin, mango lovers will cherish mangoes — regardless of the price.