Sunday, April 23, 2017

T is for TANGERINES - MY NEW FAVORITE GO-TO SNACK #AtoZ

FOOD FOR THOUGHT
My daily #AtoZ posts combine two concepts in under-300-words per day:
an appealing food choice along with thoughts that spring to mind.
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Not so many years ago, I would refuse any offer of a tangerine. My guess is it was because of the seeds lurking among the juicy flesh, waiting for me to crunch down, something I really, really dislike. It also explains why I love mangoes: one very large seed, no surprises.
 
 
 
Recently, though, I noticed the local grocery store Foodland carried a selection of delicious sweet mandarin oranges. Once I started eating them, it became an obsession. My stash seldom runs out.
 
What is the difference between mandarin oranges, tangerines, and Clementines?
 
I thought it was a fair question. Apparently, so did everyone else. When I started to Google the question, it filled itself in. The answer is that they are the same. They are called mandarins because they come from China. They are called tangerines because they come from Tangiers.
 
So what about Clementines? The clementine fruit is small and seedless (although many mandarins are also). Because it has no seeds, shoots need to be grafted onto similar varieties of the fruit. The varietal was created by a French missionary in Algeria over 100 years ago. His name was Marie-Clement Rodier, ergo: Clementines.
 
And now you know the rest of the story.
 
 
 
 

5 comments:

  1. I hear you about crunching on those hidden seeds. In our store, the mandarins or clementines are packaged as "Halos" or "Cuties" but either way - yum! :)

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    Replies
    1. It's a trick to know what I'm buying sometimes, Madeline. Each new shipment is a toss-up.

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  2. Umm, YES! LOL!

    DB McNicol | Oh, the places we will go! | Tennessee & Texas

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  3. So clementines are seedless? Good to know.

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  4. Yes, Donna!

    John, they're supposed to be. But then so are seedless watermelons.

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