Panteleria Island, Mediterranean Sea. We have fresh fresh tangerines here, now in the middle of the season. They are fantastic, priced at about $2.50 per KILO. They are coming over here from Sicily. Pantelleria has awesome lemons and oranges, but no tangerine. Over here, the older, seedy variety is by far the most popular and flavorful.
Winter Citrus: Tangerines
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Credit: tillwe/Flickr
The tangerine is actually a variety of mandarin orange from China, which made its way to Europe and North America in the nineteenth century via Tangier, the Moroccan city which gave the fruit its name. For many years, the most popular tangerine in America was the flavorful dancy, a fruit that peaks in mid- to late December and served as a Christmas stocking favorite at the turn of the 20th century. The dancy fell out of favor in recent years because of its many seeds and susceptibility to disease. It's been largely replaced by seedless mandarin varieties like the clementine, satsuma, and a new hybrid, the neopolitan.
A tangerine's sweet-tart flavor brightens up salads, like mixed greens with fennel, or yellow beets dressed up with shallot and raspberry vinaigrette. It also adds a subtle citrus scent to freshly baked rye rolls, and adds its bright tang to cream-frosted cupcakes and creamy dessert curd. I'd argue, though, that the best way to eat this winter fruit is directly out of hand, the skin peeled off in one satisfying swoop.
Buying Tips
Season: Tangerine season depends on the variety, but many come into peak in late fall to the middle of winter.
Where to find it: Farmers' markets Florida and California will stock tangerines during the winter months. Otherwise, check your supermarket for domestic varieties and those from Spain, Italy, and other Mediterranean locales.
Price: At the farmers' market, you're most likely going to pay for a set number of fruits per dollar (say, five tangerines for a dollar); by weight, prices run from about $2 to $3 a pound. In the supermarket, you are most likely to find them in five-pound crates for $10 to $15 per crate, or sold separately at around 50 to 80 cents a piece.
Leah Koenig is a freelance writer, home cook, and food columnist for the Forward.
Comments (2)
Here in Austin TX we too have gotten our share of sunny citrus to brighten the week's overcast skies. Yesterday I picked up some blood oranges and used them to make a sauce and garnish for homemade angel food cake. I adapted a recipe from the store, and reduced 1 1/2 cups of fresh squeezed juice, added some superfine sugar and honey and let it cook down until it was glossy and coated the back of a spoon. Then I made a simple caramel and coated Moro orange slices with the result. Before serving I decorated the top of the cake with the sliced oranges and random pieces of caramel, then placed each slice in a pool of the blood orange reduction. Lovely!
