Winter Citrus: Kishu, Satsuma, Cara Cara Oranges

Oh, California Citrus. Love You.

Just a quick, random post about the bounty of citrus available at Farmer's Markets in Southern California right now.

I have great sympathy for places that don't have year-round farmer's markets nor citrus in their backyard. Being conceived, born and raised in Southern California, this just blows my mind. That...and snow. And how to layer clothing for cold weather. And how to drive in snowy weather. And all things related to the cold.

I just finished listening to Frank Bruni's book - Born Round: A Story of Family, Food and a Ferocious Appetite. It was a very interesting read/listen (he reads it himself) about his relationship with food, his weight, fad diets, bulimia, exercise, his family and being the NY Times Restaurant Critic. Anyway, at one point, his parent's move from the East Coast to La Jolla (San Diego) for a time. He wrote that they were amazed they could go into the backyard and pick citrus off their own tree at Christmas. Cracked me up...and reminded me how lucky I am to live in a place where you can have all types of citrus grow in your backyard.

Cutie mandarins or clementines are available nationwide now in those Cutie boxes. They are okay to me and I eat a handful at a meeting...but these oranges from the Farmer's Market are so much better. If you are in So Cal, please head out to your farmer's market this "winter" (Los Angeles Winter, that is)

Right now, my favorite is the kishu mandarin. The season for this small packages of deliciousness is short...so I usually get 3 pounds a week. When they are gone, I move onto the Golden Nugget mandarin and Sumo Citrus - my own season of citrus.

The Los Angeles Time's David Karp wrote about the seedless kishu in 2010. They are so sweet and delicious!

The Satsuma Mandarin or Mikan is the old standby for me. The skin is loose so it's a breeze to peel. Sweet and lovely. Sometimes they are small, and some a little larger. Seedless delights.

Oh, the Cara Cara Orange! It's got a great pink color and very tasty. To me, it's a cross of an orange and sweet ruby red grapefruit (but the official cross is between two navel oranges). I've seen them at Costco (Sunkist producer) and, through the years, at more stores. Seedless.

I hope you get a chance to try these yummy citrus fruit. You know, scurvy is bad. Let's all avoid it.