Welcome to citrus-palooza — a random tasting of commonly and more uncommonly known mainstream-citrus cousins and hybrids. The place where mandarins and tangerines mate to create the charmingly named, Pixie, and where intimidatingly named Sumo Oranges win over hearts {mine} and beat the competition handsomely.
To prepare for the pucker playoffs, we needed something to cleanse the palate — whole wheat bread with sage and meyer lemon zest sounded like a good fit. And to slather: lemon-sardine butter.
And now for the line-up:
Suggested order for tasting {sweet to tart}:
- Pixie Tangerine. What: cross between a king mandarin and kincy tangerine. Peel: light orange and easy to peel. Inside: Sweet, seedless, lower acidy makes this lady great for snacking.
- Sumo Orange. What: cross between a mandarin and a california navel orange. Peel: thick and knobby with a top knot like a sumo wrestlers makes it extremely easy to peel. Inside: intensely sweet {in a good way} with no seeds. It took 30 years to develop in Japan, and its flavor lives up to the expectation that such a long training period will outshine the citrus competition.
- Murcott. What: cross between a tangerine and a sweet orange. Peel: smooth, deep orange and easy to peel. Inside: Sweet, but slightly tart. Similar in taste to a clementine. Deep orange in color with no seeds.
- Pomelo. What: native to southeast Asia, it is a hybrid of a grapefruit and orange. Peel: thick, smooth pale yellow peel with a thick spongy wall. Inside: Pale pink (lighter than a pink grapefruit) and very mild in flavor. Lacks the excitement of a grapefruit’s flavor.
- Meyer Lemon. What: cross between a lemon and an orage. Peel: smooth, deep yellow with orange hue, edible. Inside: pale yellow, milder tartness than a regular lemon.
- Kumquat. What: native to Asia-Pacific, trees can grow up to thousands of kumquats a year. Peel: thin, orange and edible. Inside: tart like a lemon, with a great burst of flavor. Great snacks or on salads.
- Mandarinquat. What: cross between a kumquat and a mandarin. Peel: oval shaped with knobby end. Inside: Lots of seeds, bright orange, and tart! Great for a margarita?!
And the winner is…
The Sumo Orange. Easy to peel and full of sweet, sweet flavor with the added bonus of no seeds and big slices means we can’t really think of a reason why you wouldn’t eat these all day long. Run to your closest Whole Foods or specialty market and get a grip on one of these prized treats. Citrus season is coming to a close and you don’t want to miss this show.
Love all the citrus pictures!!