It is March – just about the saddest month for fruit EVER. I am completely bored of citrus and the spring berries aren’t quite ready. By summer I will be swimming in so many delightful bits of fruit that I won’t be able to try them fast enough and Mr. Maven will be threatening to call some sort of goverment agency to come in and find his wife in the pile of cores, pits and rotting fruit flesh in the corner of the dining room. But until then, it is March. Sad, sad fruitless March. But then this weekend I was walking through the grocery store and saw Shasta Tangerines. I literally thought – “Hey another tangerine. WHO CARES.” But I grabbed one (just ONE) any way because I am compulsive like that.  Believe me, if I had left without it I would have had to go back. What if that one kind of tangerine was the best tangerine ever and I didn’t bother to pick it up?! Unlikely, but what if?! And it turns that for once, my neurotic nature was right. This is hands down, the best tangerine I have ever had and I promptly went right back to the store and got an entire bag of them. Delightful.

APPEARANCE 4 out of 5 stars

Beautiful deep orange skin and flesh. Slightly larger than most tangerines I have eaten but not quite as big as the average orange.

AROMA 5 out of 5 stars

Extremely strong (can smell it all the way down the hall as it is being peeled), floral, delightful, pure, sweet tangerines.

TEXTURE 5 out of 5 stars

Super easy to peel – the easiest ever!, Very little pith and very few seeds. Juicy juiciness.

TASTE 5 out of 5 stars

Perfectly acidic, perfectly sweet. Pure and floral tangerine essence.

OVERALL 4.75 out of 5 stars

Have I already mentioned that this is my very favorite tangerine so far? Because it most definitely is, and that is saying something because I have tasted somewhere around 15 different kinds including common favorites like Page and Dancy. The shasta tangerine is a deep gorgeous color, insanely easy to peel and it’s bigger than most so you don’t have to peel two just to get a reasonable snack! Also I ate one at work and people were popping in to figure out what I was eating and where they could get one.  Extra points for making people jealous of me!!!

RECIPES

10 Ways to Cook with Tangerines

Atemoyas, a cross between the cherimoya and the soursop, look like tumorous little forest creatures but taste like  tropical flowers. Eating one is a pure delight, but so is reading about it. Take this page for example, a scientific description for all intents and purposes, but it takes the atemoya to a whole new level (for me at least, but I’m a bit nerdy that way). I don’t know about you but these kind of details just make me blush (are they seriously talking about the picture below?): delicate apex, creamy lines around the areoles, elliptical, less hairy, prominent and angular, firm, pliable, fragrant…wowza! Fruit can be very inappropriate.

APPEARANCE 2.5 out of 5 stars

Dusty green, wobbly, gnarled looking fruit with tan flesh and gorgeous black seeds.

AROMA 5 out of 5 stars

Sweet, tropical and floral. Luscious, luscious, luscious.

TEXTURE 4.5 out of 5 stars

Very slightly fibrous, slightly grainy (like a pear), yet creamy and juicy at the same time.

TASTE 5 out of 5 stars

Mix of sweet pineapple, pear, banana and strawberry.

OVERALL 4.25 out of 5 stars

Extremely delicious fruit. Just about as yummy as you can get. Atemoyas are sweet and bright and delicate. I’m not sure I can tell the difference between this and the cherimoya particularly, although I’m not tasting them side by side.

Meiwa Kumquats are not your average kumquat. First of all they are round instead of oval and they are much harder to find. I suppose you could stumble upon them easily if you had access to the ever popular Kumquat Festival in Dade City. This site gives tons of information about the festival such as no date, no location, and a whopping one out of four stars rating. BUT, it is a “fun packed family event that lasts for a day”. Oh – and did I mention it is completely dedicated to Kumquats? Yeah – that’s my kind of event. Where’s my party hat?

APPEARANCE 4 out of 5 stars

Small, round, orange fruit with a good number of seeds.

AROMA 3.5 out of 5 stars

Lightly orange and acidic.

TEXTURE 3 out of 5 stars

Firm, almost crunchy and a bit fibrous. Not particularly juicy.

TASTE 3 out of 5 stars

Nice complicated sweetness with bits of sour juice and a slight bitterness in the peel.

OVERALL 3.38 out of 5 stars

I so desperately want to like kumquats. They are small. You can pop the whole thing in your mouth. They kind of taste like candy with a little splash of sour and bitter grown up flavor. But then there are the seeds. What kind of tiny little fruit that is so perfectly fit for snacking, dares to include 5 or 6 seeds in each bite! GAH! I will admit that this one is sweeter and far more interesting than the more common Nagami Kumquat, but still – the audacity! (Also this claims that Meiwas have very few seeds so maybe I just got a particularly defiant batch.)

RECIPES

Preserved Kumquats
Tri-Color Winter Salad with Kumquats

Despite this love, I had no idea there were so many tangerines in the world. No. Idea. I have reviewed quite a few mandarins and related hybrids (Page, Satsuma, Kishu, Mandarinquat, Rangpur Lime, Ugli Fruit) and I have tasted a few more that haven’t made it on to the site yet: Clementines, Cuties, Pixies, Honey, Algerian, Shasta (a favorite) and Sunburst. But there are so, so many more. It’s ridiculous. So I thought I would round up some ideas for you (for me really – let’s not kid ourselves). Pretty much all of these can be made with various oranges as well (see Cara Cara, Sanguinello, Moro). Let me know if you have more. As you might imagine, my fridge is full.

10 Ways to Cook with a Tangerine

1. Butter baking dish, sprinkle with tangerine zest and fill with contents from baked pasta recipe (red and/or white sauce). You will be shocked at how delicious this tastes.
2. Whip some fresh cream. Fold in a bit of fine zest and a tablespoon of rum. Use to top all kinds of desserts or just dip fingers and lick.
3. Boil a few sliced in half (can add limes, lemons, mandarinquats, whatever citrus you have) with a stick of cinnamon and a bit of fresh ginger. Strain into mug and add honey.  Drink and stay healthy.  (thanks keri)
4. Mix 1T zest with 1C sugar. Pulse in food processor to blend. Use wherever you use sugar.
5. Juice one tangerine and mix with equal amount of champagne. Indulge.
6. Place a small sprig of rosemary and the zest of a tangerine in a food processor and pulverize. Mix with half cup of fine sea salt and spread out on a tray to dry (5 hours+). Pat on to fish, shrimp, beef, pork or chicken. Drizzle with oil and grill.
7. Add segments to your favorite coleslaw.
8. Peel tangerine and blend with milk, ice and ice cream (best with a seedless type). Pour into old fashioned mug and grab a straw.
9. Mix a bit of zest, a squeeze of juice, olive oil, salt and pepper. Toss with fresh cut green beans or asparagus and roast at 425 degrees until tender.
10. Mix up a batch of chamomile tea. Squeeze in some tangerine juice and pour into popsicle molds or an ice cube tray with tooth picks. Freeze and enjoy. Turn up the heat, throw on some shorts and pretend it’s summer.

You might also be interested in: 10 Ways to Cook With a Lime

The Carambola, or Star Fruit, comes in tart varieties and sweet varieties. The sweet only has 4% sugar though (compared to a speckled and ripe banana, which can have up to 90% – yee haw!). So I’m thinking this so-called “fruit” really should surrender its title and just slink on over to the vegetable aisle. Perhaps it could just make friends with the rutabagas.

APPEARANCE 5 out of 5 stars

Green and yellow cylindrical fruit in the shape of a star. Lots of brown edges and bruises.

AROMA 3 out of 5 stars

Lightly lemony.

TEXTURE 4 out of 5 stars

Firm, crunchy and juicy – a bit like a firm grape.

TASTE 3 out of 5 stars

This reminds me of a slightly sweet, slightly sour, juicy, lemony bell pepper.

OVERALL 3.75 out of 5 stars

This fruit just screams pizazz the second you see it.  And then you taste it…and it mumbles “meh”. On the bright side, it makes an amazing garnish and I’m sure it would liven up dessert soups and salads. But seriously, who cares about salad when you can slice these and put them on the edge of champagne glass. Oooh la la.

FRUIT Carambola	PEAK All Year	PROVIDED BY Specialty Produce
VARIETY Unknown	GROWN California

RECIPES

Pickled Carambola
Dessert Pizza with Mango, Peaches and Star Fruit