Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
The pummelo, a related fruit, can be as big as a human head and has thick skin with
lots of coarse white pith. Most pummelos taste very sweet, primarily because they are so
low in acid. The fruit is extremely dry, so much so that the most common way to prepare
it is by breaking each segment into individual vesicles - those little beads of fruit that are
practically invisible in richer, moister citrus.
A delicious grapefruit-pummelo cross in California called the "Oroblanco" is slowly
finding an audience, thanks to a particularly circuitous marketing path. Originally intro-
duced in the early 1980s, the Oroblanco was praised for its fine flavor - it is very sweet
but is balanced by a bracing astringency. Because the fruit is slow to color, it fell from
favor after only a few years. Then Israeli growers renamed the fruit "Sweetie" and began
exporting it to Japan, basing an ad campaign on the fact that this fruit is sweet even when
green. Now California growers are beginning to give the variety another chance.
W H E R E T H E Y' R E G ROW N: Mandarins are split almost equally between
Florida and California, with a significant number of Clementines being imported from
Spain during the holidays. Florida dominates the grapefruit market in terms of sheer num-
bers, but there are also important plantings in Texas, California and Arizona.
H 0 W T 0 C H O O 5 E: The skins of mandarins should feel firm, not wrinkled.
This is a little harder to discern with some varieties, which "puff up" when ripe, with the
skin separating from the flesh, but there should certainly be no soft spots. The fruit should
be heavy for its size, and the fragrance should be clean and fresh. Mandarins that are past
their prime will smell a little fermented. The skins of grapefruits should be smooth, and
the fruit should be very heavy. Check the stem ends as well - when the fruit gets a little
old, the end will start to sink into the fruit.
