Nothing says summer like sweet, succulent, sun-bright mangoes. But summer doesn't last forever, not even in South Florida. Chill, baby. You can keep the mango kicks coming all year with heat-beating mango sorbet.

The Italians are passionate about sorbet, and no wonder -- it has about a third the calories of ice cream, none of the fat and all of the fun. Available in natural food stores and some supermarkets, Ciao Bella ($3.50, 1 pint) contains only mango, water, sugar and lemon, earning points for purity. A half-cup has 107 calories. Italian it may be (though it's manufactured in New York), but something got lost in translation. It had to be chiseled out of the container, had a not-nice icy consistency and lacked mango magic.

Haagen-Dazs ($3.50, 1 pint) plays up mango's natural complexity by adding carrot and pumpkin juices. Sounds odd, tastes madly mango and has a luxurious mouth feel. The downside -- lots more calories (150).

A worthy David to Haagen-Dazs' Goliath is the mango-passion fruit sorbet from Gaby's Farm ($3.65, 1 pint), with 130 calories per serving. It spoons up smooth, has a luscious creaminess and brims with bright, tropical fruit goodness. A kiss of tart passion fruit is a fabulous foil to mango's natural sweetness (however, it also contains corn syrup).

Also sweet -- Gaby's Farm is home-grown. The company is family-run and based in Homestead. Available at Whole Foods and Gardner's Markets, Gaby's Farm sorbet has got it going on -- it's local, it has passion (fruit) and offers the most mango for your money.

Ellen Kanner writes biweekly about vegetarian concerns.

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