The citrus world's many gems offer enjoyable snacks without the guilt of so many of the season's pleasures, writes Hugo Arnold
THE NEXT FEW weeks will have all of us reaching for those orange seasonal delights of the citrus world - clementines, satsumas, mandarins, or is it tangerines? The seasonal cheer that these golden, juicy nuggets bring is unfailing, but the world seems divided into those of us who love the ease of a tangerine and those who don't mind peeling a clementine.
Whatever your preference, these are fruit as welcome as they are easy. Dispensing cheer, they brighten up a fruit bowl, particularly if you can manage to get some of the oily-green leaves still attached.
I am a clementine person. I like the juxtaposition of sharp and sweet, the intense mandarin aroma and flavour. I don't relish the pips, but I am not averse. And while peeling can be a bit of a struggle, knowing what is to come makes it worthwhile. That is in the evening.
In the morning I am a satsuma person. I love the ease of peeling, the absence of pips, the juicy straight-up blandness. A wake-up call is necessary, but who wants to be bellowed at? Each segment offers easy eating, and what more can you ask for at the start of the day? Simple sunshine. Be careful in your sourcing: weighty fruit is required. Anything light to the touch is likely to be devoid of juice, and there are few things as boring as a dry satsuma.
A clementine offers perfect balance but it is intense - a big eat in the true sense, a distillation of pure mandarin. Which leaves its zest ripe for all kinds of delights, from ice-creams to sorbets, cakes to biscuits.
The clementine is also ideal for bottling, its strength of flavour marrying well with sugar syrup and alcohol, Armagnac for gutsy preference. Or try a squeeze of juice over wilted spinach before serving for a tart, fresh sweetness. If you want a retro touch, pack the seasoned spinach into gently warmed, hollowed fruit, which look festive round a joint of meat.
Try any of the above - indeed, try anything with the zest of a satsuma - and you are on a hiding to disappointment. Not only does the skin border on the pappy, it gives no flavour, a half-hearted attempt, not a gramme of mandarin in sight. Far better to leave satsumas to strut their stuff in a fruit bowl in the centre of the table, a snack to be enjoyed without the guilt associated with so many of the season's pleasures.
Satsumas are the older fruit, developed in Japan more than 400 years ago, some think, although we must look to China for the real beginnings.
Keen on a cooler climate than clementines, they are easy to grow and are heading our way by the thousands. Compare that with the efforts to raise clementines, which demand more sunshine and are altogether a trickier proposition.
The birth of the clementine is more recent - the brainchild of one Père Clément Rodier in Oran in Algeria. He had the bright idea of crossing a mandarin with the bitter Seville orange, that other globe of hope during these cold months. Sevilles are destined for marmalade, but they also make the most glorious alternative to lemons in a tart, and the 1960s triumph of entertaining, duck à l'orange, is far superior if made with the complexity of a bitter Seville than a normal sweet orange.
While you cannot eat a pomander, the aroma it delivers will have you thinking of sunnier climes in no time at all. Stud a clementine with as many cloves as you can so it takes on a porcupine appearance. Left for a few days, the moisture of the fruit and zest in the skin starts to work with the cloves to give you seasonal cheer aplenty. A chance to get through December in high spirits.
harnold@irishtimes.com