Strawberries. Apples. Bananas. Americans’ favorite fruits are fine in a pie, in a fruit salad or atop your morning cereal. If you’re like most people, though, you occasionally crave a more fantastic fruit. Something a little bit different. A little more exotic. But not too different. When you do, the mango is the perfect snack.

Native to southeast Asia - where they’re are as everyday as apples and oranges are in the United States - mangos are a fruit that’s at once familiar and foreign to the average American, who’s likely to have tasted a mango but never actually bought one. If that describes you, you’re missing out.

Although mangos are grown in limited supply in California, Florida and Hawaii, the United States gets most of its mangos from Mexico, Puerto Rico and Central and South America, including Peru, Ecuador, Brazil, Guatemala and Haiti. Just as diverse as the countries that export them are the mangos themselves, which can be yellow, orange, red, green or any combination thereof, and either soft and pulpy or firm and fibrous, depending on the variety.

No matter the size, color or texture, however, all mangos have at least one thing in common: their unique and delicious fruity flavor, which lends itself equally to sweet and savory dishes. You can snack on mangos raw, for instance, atop ice cream for dessert, or serve them diced in a salsa or chutney with meat or fish for your main course.

No matter how you eat them, you’ll be eating something that’s both nutritious - mangos are especially high in fiber and vitamin C - and interesting, as mangos have a long and storied history. Known as “the king of fruit,” they grow on tall evergreen trees that are considered sacred in India, where some believe mango trees can grant wishes (Buddha himself was said to have meditated beneath a mango tree) and where Hindus use mango twigs to brush their teeth on holy days and mango leaves to celebrate childbirth.

Of course, you don’t have to hold mangos sacred to enjoy them. You just have to be adventurous enough to pick one up at the supermarket. When you do, look for mangos that are slightly soft to the touch - like a ripe peach - and that emit a full, fruity aroma from the stem end of the fruit. When you get it home, cut a “cheek” from each side of the fruit, leaving behind one slice - the inedible core - from the middle. Score the fruit inside each cheek, being careful not to cut through the skin, then turn the whole mango half inside-out in order to reveal a series of mango cubes that you can slice off the skin with a knife.

Although it sounds like a lot of work compared to eating an apple, the sweet snack - familiar, yet foreign - is well worth the extra effort.