Fruit Maven » winter

Bergamot Orange

Fruit Maven — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 20:39:26 +0000

I finally got my hands on a bergamot orange this week and I have been scheming about what I’m going to do with the luscious rind. Heidi from 101 Cookbooks just happened to post a recipe for gorgeous citrus salts a few days ago, which are a definite possibility. But I am thinking I want to pair this up with Earl Grey tea somehow. Bergamot oil is what provides the distinct flavor of Earl Grey so it seems like an obvious way to push the flavor. I’ve got a few things brewing so stay tuned for a recipe next week.

As we chat about bergamots, I need to warn you that Internet seems to have some confusion about two different fruit that both seem to be bergamot but are pretty different. (Yes, I like to refer to Internet at times as if he/she is my personal friend – same way I do when I’m talking about my good, close friends Brad and Angie - I loved Angie’s dress at the Globes.) So beware when looking to purchase them. David Lebovitz does a pretty straightforward job of describing the competing specimens. The true bergamot is a cross between a sour orange and an uncertain citrus – potentially a lemon, citron or limetta (sweet lime). Once again the wacky citrus world has been flouncing around. I can’t say this shocks me anymore as it appears the citrus world is notoriously wild. You can’t leave them alone for one second.

By the way, I am heading to UC Riverside next week for a tour of their citrus collection. I have a good number of questions for them about citrus varieties and how things are classified. I am still a little baffled by whether an orange is a type of mandarin or if a mandarin is a type of orange–among other things. And of course, I’m hoping to get my hands on a few unusual goodies. Let me know in the comments (or email me) if there is anything you would love to know about the citrus world. I think I’m going to have access to some experts, so now is the time.

Bergamot Orange

APPEARANCE 3.5 out of 5 stars

Bright yellow, bumpy sphere with pale greenish-yellow flesh.

AROMA 5 out of 5 stars

Extraordinary perfume when cut or zested. Fills the room with a delightfully high-pitched orange fragrance. It literally makes my eyebrows go up as I breathe it in.

TEXTURE 3.5 out of 5 stars

Fairly dense when cut with a knife. Thin rind and mildly juicy flesh. Few seeds.

TASTE 3.5 out of 5 stars

Reminds me of a grown up version of sour orange pixie sticks.

OVERALL 3.88 out of 5 stars

This fruit is basically the polar opposite of the Mango Orange I reviewed last week. This baby is all acidity. It is just over-the-top sour. That being said, it has this really sweet high note that I thoroughly enjoy and while I couldn’t possibly eat even a segment of this fruit, I keep going for little nibbles of the juice. I think that might be why my cheeks are starting to sweat as I type this. That, or I’m just really out of shape and simple typing raises my heart rate. Hard to say.

FRUIT Bergamot	PEAK Winter	PROVIDED BY Specialty Produce
VARIETY n/a	GROWN California

Opal Apple

Fruit Maven — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 16:58:15 +0000

What a surprise! This apple seems pretty late in the season to show up at my grocery store so I was delighted to see it just sitting there near the end cap. I know of course, that ALL apples just sit there. But for whatever reason when it is a fruit I’ve never seen (or heard of) I feel like they are perched there just waiting to pounce on me. If I turn the corner and spy them first then I get to pounce on them. It’s a fun game I like to play when shopping by myself. If you ever see me crouched conspicuously around a corner, please don’t give away my position. It ruins everything. We can call it a neurotic form a tag, or whatever makes you more comfortable.

So whenever this happens, I tend to wonder two things. First, “Is this a variety that is finally getting the exposure it deserves?” And then immediately following, “Or am I going to hate this and think — Ew. No wonder no one has heard of you?” I ask the fruit questions like this all the way home until I finally just give in and eat one, because usually the fruit is so mad I won the game that they won’t speak to me. They can be sore losers like that.

In this case I was hoping to like it, because I like real opals. I know that has nothing to do with it, but I really just don’t want the cognitive burden of having to remember that I do like one and don’t like the other. Phew. Another crisis averted.

Opal Apple

APPEARANCE 4 out of 5 stars

Bright, happy sunflower yellow with the most adorable pale freckles. White flesh.

AROMA 3.5 out of 5 stars

Not particularly aromatic. Smells fresh and moist but indistinguishable from any other food or plant.

TEXTURE 4 out of 5 stars

Has a crisp bite that pleasantly crackles in your ear.

TASTE 4 out of 5 stars

Lovely and complex flavor with layers of sweet “appley” sugar intersecting with nuances of lemon and orange.

OVERALL 3.88 out of 5 stars

This is a great find and if you see one be sure to snatch it up. The texture does soften a bit over time so eat them within the first few days. Believe me, that should be no problem. I also baked them in to an amazing little scone with thyme and cheddar cheese. Oh my. Will be posting the recipe for that tomorrow! Stay tuned.

FRUIT Apple	PEAK Winter	PURCHASED Grocery Store
VARIETY Opal	GROWN Unknown

ALSO!

A Virginia elementary school had a fruit flash mob to promote healthy eating. So awesome! Check it out.

Mango Orange | Vaniglia Sanguigno

Fruit Maven — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 18:34:45 +0000

I realized this weekend that I do not have even one mango reviewed on this website. I was truly puzzled by this discovery because I would list the mango as one of my very favorite fruit of all time. It was the first “exotic” fruit introduced to me by my grandmother when I was five and was a huge departure from the orange, apple and banana I had experience up to that point. It remained the most exotic thing I would try for another 15+ years.

My grandmother died when I was six, so it sticks out as one of very few memories I have of her. She was introduced to the mango when she lived in Hawaii — a place she lived for quite a few years, as did my mother, as did I — all in our twenties. All of us either moving toward or away from various men. In a way, a mango represents strength to me, and independence. For each of us the relocation required a great amount of courage. I think there is some part of me that feels the mango, the fruit I so closely associate with all of these memories, is sacred and shouldn’t be rated the way I do on this site. I don’t know. I can’t think of a good reason why I keep deciding not to highlight one here. But I keep doing it, so there must be some logic to it.

Regardless, I was delighted to see a Mango Orange variety of citrus at the market this week so I had a chance to celebrate my beloved mango in some small way without having to rate it just yet. If you see this orange I definitely recommend it, as well as any mangoes you find of course. And when you see them, I hope that for a small moment you are reminded of this story and pause to connect for a moment with your own strength and courage, right there in the grocery store. Because really, is there any other time?

Mango Orange

APPEARANCE 4 out of 5 stars

Baseball size, perfectly round orange with gorgeous flesh ranging from sunkist orange to salmon pink.

AROMA 3.5 out of 5 stars

Mild, sweet orange.

TEXTURE 5 out of 5 stars

Juicy, tender flesh that seems to just melt in your mouth. This might be the very best citrus texture I have ever tried. I would dare to say it is creamy.

TASTE 3.5 out of 5 stars

No acidity or tartness in the flavor but I can feel some acidity on my tongue in the aftertaste. Think of a sweet mellow orange magnified with well rounded vanilla flavor.

OVERALL 4 out of 5 stars

While I like this orange quite a bit particularly for the texture, I tend to like my citrus, and really most fruit actually, with a nice bit of acidity. This orange is missing that extra punch of flavor. I’m also slightly disappointed it doesn’t taste anything like mangoes, though I suppose an argument could be made that the flesh looks a little like one, but it would be a thin argument. I read in the LA Times that this orange’s real name is Vaniglia Sanguigno, Italian for “Vanilla Blood”, and I have to admit that despite my confessed love of mangoes, I find that to be a far more fitting name. It has a pretty clear vanilla note and the coloring is certainly more reminiscent of a blood orange than a mango. Also, I like the idea of telling people I had Vanilla Blood for breakfast. It takes the idea of fruit giving strength to a whole new level.

FRUIT Orange	PEAK Winter	PURCHASED Grocery Store
VARIETY Mango (Vaniglia Anguigno)	GROWN California

COMMENTS!

What do you think the better name is? Mango Orange? Or Vanilla Blood? Which name would get you to buy it? Clearly I would buy it either way.

Aurora Apple

Fruit Maven — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 21:44:32 +0000

Despite having tasted over 45 different varieties of apples, I still find new ones just sitting there at the grocery store tucked between the Granny Smiths and Galas. I have to say that I am insanely lucky to live in Southern California. We just have so much access to so much! I’ve never really talked about why I started Fruit Maven or more specifically what it means to me. So as we head in to Christmas and the last days of the year I’m feeling a little sentimental and thought I’d share a bit.

It started out because I’m an insatiable explorer of sorts. I’m the girl who tries everything on the menu (no literally – Every! Single! Thing!), who eats at nine different chocolate shops in the two days I’m visiting Manhattan (“This one might taste different!!!”), who dreams about honey tastings and posts bucket lists on my Facebook page. I want to try it all. I really do. And yet, I often find myself limited by finances or distractions or just the day-to-day.

When I started documenting my fruit tastings (an item on the bucket list), I realized there was so much in the world that was right in front of me that I had just never seen — not because I didn’t have access, but because I hadn’t been looking. And now I find that the more I open my eyes, the more I realize that the spectacular is in the smallest things…a new plump, yellow apple that inexplicably reminds me of my mother, a zebra striped lemon that takes me on a Dr. Seussian safari, or a spiky citron that invokes the silliest monster games with my daughter. I write this site because I love adventure. I hope you do too. I’m so glad you are here.

APPEARANCE 3.5 out of 5 stars

Light, lemony yellow skin with tiny tan freckles on a softball sized apple. Pale, almost peach flesh.

AROMA 4 out of 5 stars

Clear and strong, sweet apple smell.

TEXTURE 3.5 out of 5 stars

This is not a hard or crunchy apple, but it has really satisfying density to it. Tender but not mushy.

TASTE 3.5 out of 5 stars

Mellow apple flavor that isn’t particularly sweet. There is a bit of a lemon flavor to it as well, though not sour.

OVERALL 3.63 out of 5 stars

For some reason I’m really drawn to way this apple looks with its pale yellow skin and peachy flesh. It just seems so fresh and bright to me and girly in some way. The flavor is mediocre at best but not assaulting in any way. Nonetheless I find myself smiling as I pick it up with its fairly massive girth. I can’t put my finger on it, but I swear there is something extremely nurturing about this apple. I might go get another one and just enjoy having it sit next to me on the desk.

FRUIT Apple	PEAK Fall, Winter	PURCHASED Grocery Store
VARIETY Aurora	GROWN Unknown

Clementine Cuties + the sweetest Christmas poem you’ll read this year

Fruit Maven — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 19:52:14 +0000

I have mentioned this briefly before, but when I was a little girl Santa always brought a nice plump orange to fill the toe of my stocking. Since then, I have heard repeatedly that people receive a clementine and when I saw these Cuties at the store, I had to pick them up. Even though I knew the taste wouldn’t be great, they made me smile and that’s worth a lot in my book.

So I set out to figure out why oranges or clementines were put in stockings long ago because this is such an important tradition for me. Truthfully I didn’t find much except a story about oranges representing gold coins, but something told me that wasn’t why my family did it. And then I ran across this old poem that my mother used to read me every year and I laughed because of course, I had this all along.

It’s a long poem, but a pure delight and I think you’ll enjoy it. Plus it is an honor for me to give life again to my grandmother’s words so long after she wrote them. She grew up poor as so many did in that time and she references the tradition here of the stocking orange being the only time all year they would get to eat one. Her name was Viola, but she went by the pseudonym, Cody Paige, during a period where she was a radio DJ in Florida. This was written by Cody.

I wish I’d known you more Gram-O.

Country Christmas

Gosh, but I feel sorry for kids
whose Pop’s got lots of dough,
For tomorrow it’ll be Christmas
an they won’t have fun, I know!

They’ll get a lot of mechanical toys,
and wind them ’till they break;
And then their eyes will fill with tears
and deep inside they’ll ache.

The boys’ll get trains, the girls big dolls,
‘n lots of stuff that’s bought
But I’ll betcha they won’t get nothin’ that
little children ought.

Now you take us for instance
we been Christmasin all fall
An the presents all are hidden
in the closet neath the hall.

This mornin’ we got started
as soon as it was light;
An went with Pop to chop our tree
an seen that it’s done right!

Then we went up to the attic
an brought down our own corn
An we popped it in the fireplace
while we got our fingers warm.

Then Mom brought in the needle and string
an handed them to me
And I made long ropes of popcorn
to decorate our tree.

An Sis is makin’ popcorn balls
an wrappin’ them red and green
An gosh! we got the prettiest tree
that anyone’s ever seen.

Now Mom’s out makin’ cookies and
decoratin’ ‘em too;
An we can hang them ’round the tree
as soon as she gets through.

Say, di ‘ja ever come down an old stair well
‘n shiver from your head to your toes
While your Pop shook up the fire
‘n your Mom warmed up your clothes?

Then have your eyes jump with surprise
As you looked beneath the tree
‘n everyone shoutin’ and hollerin’ around
‘n the whole house filled with glee?

Did ‘ja ever know how good an orange tastes,
when you ain’t had on fer a year;
Then find one in your stockin’, with a note,
“For Sonny dear?”

Di ja ever have your Mom come in,
with her eyes all wet and red
An your Pop just lookin’ silly
about somethin’ she’s just said?

I’ll probably get a bran’ new sled
made out of old lumber and tin;
And Sis might get a pair of skates
All accordin’ to how good we been.

The twins might set some farmer dolls
all dressed in regular clothes
Made out of Pop’s old Sunday pants
an a pair of Mom’s old hose.

Well, tomorrow it’ll be Christmas
an we won’t get much that’s new,
But, gosh! you poor little rich kids;
How we will pity you!

- Cody Paige

NOTES!

I would be delighted if you would share this poem out so more of the world can read it. Now on to the Clementine Cutie review…

Clementine Cutie

APPEARANCE 3.5 out of 5 stars

Golf ball size tangerine with bright orange peel and flesh.

AROMA 3.5 out of 5 stars

Strong orange acidic smell. Almost makes my eyes water.

TEXTURE 4 out of 5 stars

Easy to peel with minimal pith. Juicy with no seeds.

TASTE 3 out of 5 stars

Mild, shallow sweet flavor. Not particularly acidic.

OVERALL 3.5 out of 5 stars

This is a mediocre clementine at best. It is extremely easy to eat and won’t assault your senses in any way – good or bad. My experience with Cuties is that they are terribly hit or miss. A single fruit could be great in the bunch, but mostly they are consistently ok. One of the stickers on the fruit says “Perfect pocket fruit” and I agree, except I would worry that I’d leave it in my pocket forever because it so forgettable. Sad. If you are hoping for something better in your stocking this year, I would recommend asking Santa for the Sanguinello Blood Orange. That is what he brought me last year and I absolutely loved them. (One of my only reviews that received 5 stars all the way down.)

FRUIT Clementine	PEAK Winter	PURCHASED Grocery Store
VARIETY Cutie	GROWN Unknown