The Great Midwestern Pepper-Mango Mystery: Why Some People Call Bell Peppers "Mangoes"

Imagine you're at a farmer's market in Ohio or Indiana. You overhear someone ask for a bag of mangoes, but instead of the sweet, tropical fruit, the vendor hands them a bag of crisp, green bell peppers. It's not a mistake; it's a fascinating quirk of American regional dialect, a linguistic time capsule that dates back centuries.

A Word Preserved in Brine

To understand this oddity, we have to go back to the 17th and 18th centuries. When the tropical fruit we know as a mango was first imported from South Asia to Europe and the Americas, it had to endure a long sea voyage. The only way to preserve it was to pickle it in a brine. Because of this, the word "mango"—derived from the Portuguese manga—became synonymous not just with the fruit, but with the process of pickling itself. People began to "mango" other fruits and vegetables, meaning they pickled them in a similar style.

The Rise of the "Stuffed Mango"

This pickling trend became extremely popular. Creative cooks in America, lacking a steady supply of exotic mangoes, applied the technique to local produce. The green bell pepper, with its sturdy walls and hollow interior, was a perfect candidate. A popular recipe emerged: a green pepper was hollowed out, stuffed with a savory mixture of spiced cabbage and other vegetables, and then pickled. This beloved dish was known as a "stuffed mango." The name had nothing to do with the tropical fruit; it referred to the pickled pepper dish itself.

A Linguistic Heirloom in the Heartland

Over time, language evolves. In most of the English-speaking world, the tropical fruit won the naming rights, and today "mango" almost exclusively refers to the sweet, orange-fleshed stone fruit. However, in certain pockets of the Midwest, a different linguistic path was taken. The name for the popular dish, the "stuffed mango," was shortened. Eventually, the name transferred from the finished pickled product to its main raw ingredient. And so, for generations, the green bell pepper became known simply as a mango.

This tradition is a living piece of history, often passed down through families, as one person shared of their upbringing:

My mom is from Indianapolis and does this. Never knew why. Her recipe for stuffed peppers is called 'Stuffed Mangoes.'

This direct connection between a family recipe and the linguistic quirk perfectly illustrates how the term survived. For many, it's the green peppers used for stuffing and pickling that are specifically called mangoes, while the red and yellow varieties retain their standard names.

So, the next time you're in the Midwest and hear someone mention putting mangoes in their salad or stir-fry, don't be alarmed. They're likely not experimenting with a strange fruit combination, but simply using a historic, regional name for the humble green bell pepper.

Sources

• 12 Tomatoes: Here’s The Real Reason Why Some Midwesterners Call Bell Peppers “Mangoes”
• Atlas Obscura: The Midwestern Mystery of the Mango Pepper
• The Daily Meal: The Reason Some Midwesterners Call Bell Peppers Mangoes