If navel oranges laid eggs, these would be them. I bought a small basket of these mystery fruit at the market yesterday and brought them home for James who was laid up in bed with a cold.
We boldly peeled these wee citrus fruits and tried them out. James said the fruit was too high maintenance for him and I was inclined to agree, even though they were already getting low marks for being lip puckeringly sour. The surface to volume ratio was way too large for them to be a repeat purchase. (I can’t believe I just said that as a nanoparticle researcher. I should be ashamed of myself.)
But we had a whole basket to get through, so I peeled a couple and plunked them in hot water with some mint as tea for the snuffling Chicken on the couch. The tea turned out to be quite tasty despite the odd appearance. There is a bit of a tiff-tiff in our house about the name of the tea. The Chicken wants the G-rated “Orange Ball Tea”. I happen to think they look like a part of the male anatomy – complete with mint leaf for modesty – and the tea should be named accordingly. (And let’s not forget the nifty alliteration)
In the evening we went to the boss’ house for dinner and a bowl of them was sitting on the table. I asked the boss’ daughter about them and she informed me that you are supposed to eat the peel too as that is where the sweetness hides out. Knowing that, they present quite a tasty medley of flavours: there is the sour of the juice, the sweet in the white part, and the undeniable hint of bitter in the peel that is in every citrus.
Two thumbs up for the cumbsquat, or kumquat or whatever they are called.
1 comment:
I've eaten them before, and it's a mixed bag if you find one that's like a super lemon or not.
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