Tangerines

I have tried extremely hard for many years to like them. But now I am prepared to admit: I hate tangerines.

My distaste for this fruit makes no sense which is why I have given them many chances.

I love all the other citrus fruits. The arrival of the new orange crop in late fall is an anticipated event, and we eat them nonstop all through the winter months. Limes are simply sublime, my favorite member of the citrus family. Lemon juice and zest are critical ingredients in many of my favorite recipes. And blood oranges with their ruby interiors and sensational flavor are an extraordinary treat.

Tangerines always start out well; slick zipper skins, neatly breaking segments. But then I pop a piece into my mouth and once again am disappointed.

It gets worse. Around the holiday season everyone is raving about the arrival of the Clementines a.k.a. Cuties. They are packed neatly into sweet little wooden boxes and look so appealing. I bought some only to discover after one bite that they are only tangerines without seeds. At least I can salvage the box for some art project.

Food preferences are not rational choices. So perhaps when I hang up my stocking, St. Nick will understand and give me an orange or two. He can stuff those Cuties into someone else’s sox.
cuties

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7 thoughts on “Tangerines”

  1. Well I gave into temptation and bought a box yesterday because usually those Cuties are pretty darn good. BUT, not this time…..flavorless, and I even encountered a stray seed. My cats love the box though!

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  2. Really “off and on” flavors, with dryness being the main problem. Peel and eat oranges are the same. The most beautiful ones are often the driest. I buy juice oranges with miserable-looking, thin skins, cut them into segments, then eat the soft centers.

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  3. Mary, the taste may not be up with a navel — so to speak– but, oh, the smell as you unpeel a Cutie and then parcel out the neat, contained segments to happy, waiting little hands– all is well and wonderful.
    I would never banish them from my larder.
    Julilly K.

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  4. Hi Mary. I agree with you about the California grown Clementines. I’ve found those from early in the season from Spain are flavorful and do not disappoint. But those from California almost always are lackluster. Sandra

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