Winter is gone and its distinctive seasonal fruit is going – grapefruit, navel and mandarin oranges, and the aptly named ugli fruit will soon disappear.
Blood oranges, with their deep red interior and puckering juice, are also on their way out, as are pomelos, grapefruit’s bigger sister. Limes are yet plentiful, but they come from Mexico. Seedless lemons, that kitchen staple, will be available just until May.
So make haste – whip up a sweet-tart grapefruit salad, suck down a screwdriver with freshly squeezed Valencia juice, try that weird-looking but utterly delicious ugli fruit you thought was a rotting grapefruit. Now’s the moment.
Local produce managers say the most flavorful citrus fruits on their shelves right now are Rio Star grapefruits from Texas, super sweet and ruby red, and cara cara navel oranges, pinkish with an added bit of tang, from California’s San Joaquin Valley.
The valley, the state’s citrus belt, suffered a hard frost (yes, even in California) in December. It killed about 20 percent of the orange crop, but ultimately caused the fruit that made it to market to be sweeter than in many a past year.
But if you crave a mandarin orange, that two-bite wonder, more juice than flesh, it’s all over but the shouting. The satsumas, clementines and royals went out with the March wind. Only the honey and gold nugget remain, and only until the end of the month.
“They sell like crazy,” said Keegan Smith, produce manager at north City Market. “Everyone loves mandarins.”
Researchers still dispute where citrus fruits first cropped up, but many attribute their origin to the Orient, mainly southern China, Burma and northeastern India. The fruits were cultivated from ancient times, getting their name from the Greek word for cedar, kedros. Lemons, limes, oranges, grapefruit and mandarins were the original species, with kumquats being a kissing cousin but failing to make it onto the official list of citrus.
If you care about the difference between a Florida orange and a California one, both states grow navels for table eating and Valencias for juice, but to a connoisseur, the flavors are quite different. Florida produces oranges with a straightforward sweet taste, while California grows oranges with a more complex, sweet-tangy flavor.
And just so you know, the cooler, drier climate of the West Coast makes its citrus easier to peel than the oranges and grapefruits produced in Florida’s hot, moist climate.
Don’t be fooled by the color of citrus, however. It has nothing to do with flavor, only geography. Color develops only in cool climates, so green oranges from tropical climes can be perfectly sweet. And citrus stops ripening once you pick it – so it will simply rot if left too long in the fruit bowl.
Local restaurateurs decry the end of the citrus season because of the huge leap in price, with limes and oranges doubling and tripling in recent weeks as domestic production ends and foreign imports arrive. But margaritas must be made, ceviche can’t be done without, and guacamole calls to us this early spring, with avocados on sale everywhere we turn.
“It brings to mind fresh,” Cody Wilderman, general manager at Zia Taqueria on North Main Avenue, said of citrus, even as he bemoaned the leap in price. “It adds flavor to so many different things.”
The popular Tex-Mex restaurant uses about 40 pounds of oranges, lemons and limes a week, plus almost 10 gallons of orange and lime juices. Limes in particular influence its dishes, creating a flavor base for rice, marinades, guacamole, hot sauces and, of course, as a garnish for fish tacos.
Orange juice goes into the preparation of its Yucatan chicken, shredded beef barbacoa and pork carnitas dishes. But the heavy favorite come warm weather months? Ceviche, that miracle of marinades, able to cook raw fish and seafood with nothing more than the acidity of lime juice.
“Our customers wait for that dish to show up,” Wilderman said.
Latin cuisine isn’t the only one that relies on citrus for its flavorful punch. Fish and seafood benefit from the fruits’ zest and zing.
“People want fish that doesn’t taste like fish,” said John Sheehan, chef and owner of The Red Snapper, noting the preponderance of customers who choose mild-flavored fish over those with a more pronounced taste. “Citrus takes away that fishy flavor and adds more balance.”
He uses it in a lemon aioli to go with fried calamari, in an orange, fennel and arugula salad that accompanies grilled salmon and in flavored compound butters that go with everything. Marinades, glazes, vinaigrettes – nothing escapes a squeeze of lemon juice, a dash of orange essence, a sprinkling of lime zest.
And why not? It’s good for you, after all. We all know the fruits are full of flu-fighting vitamin C, but they also contain flavonoids, which can guard against heart disease and cancer. All that in a juicy breakfast orb or a sprightly brunch cocktail.
Consider that the Key lime pie martini at Lost Dog Bar and Lounge contains the juice of half a lime, along with pineapple juice and the business end of the drink, vanilla vodka. And who could resist spiking their lemonade with sweet tea vodka?
Surely the Diamond Belle Saloon’s margarita is a health food, composed as it is of tequila, triple sec, agave nectar and the juice of a full lime. But for all-American wholesomeness, it would be hard to beat its EBGT, made of vodka, soda and the juice of a whole orange, served in a beer mug.
Citrus – it can spice up your salads, add punch to your grilled pork and actually make you look forward to getting out of bed. The last of winter’s oranges await.
phasterok@durangoherald.com
Ceviche
Servings: 6
Ingredients:
¾ pound salmon fillet, without skin, cut into ½-inch cubes
½ pound scallops, cut into ½-inch cubes
1/3 white onion, cut into ¼-inch dice
1 cup fresh lime juice
½ cup fresh orange juice
4 ripe plum tomatoes, cut into ¼-inch dice
3 serrano or jalapeño chiles (less if you don’t like spicy), minced
¼ cup fresh cilantro, finely chopped
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Sea salt
1 ripe Hass avocado
Method:
Place fish cubes in large bowl and add scallops, onion and fruit juices and toss well.
Cover and chill until fish is opaque when cut through, about four hours.
Before serving, drain juice out of mixture and add tomatoes, chiles, cilantro, oil and mix. Cut the avocado into ¼-inch cubes and toss gently with fish mixture.
Serve chilled in small glass bowls or martini glasses and garnish with cilantro leaves.
Recipe from The Williams Sonoma Cookbook.
Dtam Som Oo (Thai Pomelo Salad)
Servings: 4-6
Ingredients:
¼ cup fish sauce
2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon lime juice
4 pomelos or grapefruits
2 fresh red Thai chiles, stemmed and finely chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
2 cups trimmed watercress
1/3 cup roasted peanuts, roughly chopped
20 mint leaves
Method:
Whisk fish sauce, sugar, juices, chiles, garlic and ¼ cup water in a bowl.
Section the pomelos or grapefruits by peeling the skin and cutting away the pith, then cutting between the membranes to release the fruit. Catch any juices in a bowl and add them to the dressing.
Toss watercress and mint with most of the dressing. Divide onto plates, top with pomelos or grapefruit sections, sprinkle with peanuts and drizzle the last of the dressing on top. Serve immediately.
Recipe adapted from Saveur magazine.
Lemon Squares
Yield: Makes 24-30 bars
For Crust:
¾ cup butter
½ cup confectioner’s sugar
1½ cups flour
For Filling:
3 eggs
1 cup sugar
3 tablespoons flour
Zest from 1 lemon
½ cup fresh lemon juice
Method:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
To make the crust, pulse butter, sugar and flour together in a food processor until they form crumbs or use a pastry blender. Pat evenly into a 9-by-13-inch baking dish and bake for 15-17 minutes until very lightly golden.
For the filling, beat all ingredients together, taking care not to create foam, until combined. Pour over hot crust and bake 20 minutes. Cool and sift powdered sugar over the top.
Recipe from Pamela Hasterok.
