Elwood 5566

Chejudo Mandarins

I forgot to mention the mandarins/tangerine variety of orange in my post before Christmas. Usually from the sub-tropical Chejudo, the southern most island, these are delicious. They are usually sold at varying prices with the sweetest being more expensive. However, even the cheaper ones can be relied upon to be persistently sweeter than mandarins/tangerines sold in the UK. A general distinguishing feature of Chejudo  and oriental mandarins/tangerines  is that they are loose-skinned and seedless. Their name derives from the bright robes worn by the elite mandarins of China and the fruit was formerly reserved especially for the mandarin class. Mandarin and tangerines sold in the UK are often not loose-skinned or seedless, are often yellower and can be  tart. These  are probably imported from the likes of Morocco. which was the first county to export the fruit to the UK. I have to say, I can eat the Chejudo variety as easily as I would chocolate.

© Nick Elwood 2010. This work is licenced under a Creative Commons Licence.