Eric Ripert | Avec Eric

This recipe was inspired by bananes flambées, a classic preparation of bananas sautéed in butter and brown sugar and then finished with flaming rum or brandy. The goal here is to add just enough rum to accent the caramel sauce that forms as the sugar and butter melt together and the fruit releases its delicious juices.

The key to this dish is starting with a perfectly ripe piece of fruit. Because the mango is so lightly cooked and there are so few other ingredients, the quality of the fruit is very important. When you take a very simple approach with great ingredients, you honor them, and they honor you in return—in this case with a fantastic caramelized dessert.

There are several varieties of mango available in the states, and they are all delicious, as long as they are ripe. A good way to find your favorite is to try one of every kind you see and then decide which one you like best. For this dish, the larger greenish-reddish ones work best because they are firmer and you get the most fruit.

Look for a nice amount of red color on the skin as the first indication of ripeness. A little bit of wrinkling is okay too. The flesh of a ripe mango will be a little bit soft to the touch, and your finger will make a small dent when you press on it. Another test for ripeness is the fragrance. Put the mango up to your nose and inhale deeply. You should get a perfume that is sweet, tart and unmistakably tropical. Your mango should smell like you want it to taste. A mango that smells sweet without the tartness is overripe and will taste flat; it will become too soft when you cook it. A hard mango with no fragrance is not yet ready. But be patient. All that mango requires is a few more days of ripening on the kitchen counter.

Adding rum and brown sugar are natural complements to the mango because they are both derived from sugar cane, which is tropical. Rum is produced from the cane in several shades, from light, or clear, to dark, which is deep brown in color. I like to cook with dark rum because it is aged longer and gives the finished dish a richer, toasted-sugar flavor. For sugar, you can use light or dark brown sugar, according to your preference or what you have on hand.

You will enjoy this rich and delicious dessert as is and be perfectly satisfied, but I like it best served with vanilla ice cream. The contrast of the hot, vibrant fruit and the cool, sweet ice cream takes the dessert from satisfying to sublime.