The quinee is a tropical mango which is sourish sweet and often too fibrous for a lot of people's liking. Most people like the better variety of Thai Mangoes which are sweet, more refine and not so pungent. The quinee can be found in most Malay kampongs as it is easier to grow and is endemic in Sarawak, so to speak. Thai mangoes are imported varieties.
As children my siblings and I had to wait for my father to come home to cut the quinee if several had dropped. My mother would always let my father decide how many we should eat as he would also decide how many he would give away as gifts. We had two big trees in our compound.
When my maternal grandmother came during the quinee season, we would have a big plate (from two or three fruits) for lunch, to go with the hot rice as she liked the sour sweet fruit. We too enjoyed the dish. We would have salted fish with the rice too.
If we had plenty of quinee to spare, my father would cut two or three for us to enjoy in between meals. He would keep the seeds for himself to suck quite clean. It was part of his fun.
We all grew up learning to share our fruits and food t his way. And we learned to be frugal like my father.
We also learned to share our fruits with our relatives.
My siblings never would ask for a lion's share.
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