The best thing I ate in 2023 was a Kensington Pride mango. I was in rural NSW, it was 38C, dry enough for my lips to peel like a lizard’s skin and I was playing Scrabble with my mum. The mango was our half-time snack. Maybe it was the dehydration or hunger talking, but this mango was magnificent. Like how pistachio ice-cream can be more pistachio-y than the nut itself, the flavour of 100 mangos seemed packed into one. It was utterly joyous, like finding out your crush likes you back or seeing your team win a grand final in extra time, only, sadly, much more fleeting.
What’s the best thing you ate in 2023? We asked Australian chefs, food scientists, sommeliers and food writers the same question, and this is what they said.
