admins
The New Year is very close, and it’s time to talk about how to choose fruits that have become one of its symbols – tangerines. I will talk about the basic rules for choosing these fruits, about the varieties of tangerines (depending on their countries of origin), how tangerines differ from clementines, as well as the rules for storing these fruits.
Basic rules for choosing tangerines
When buying, you need to carefully inspect the fruits: there should be no foreign spots, dents, mold, rot on them. The fruit must be elastic but not soft; preferably more or less regular shape. Do not take dried / dried and hard fruits.
Preference should be given to heavy, weighty tangerines: they are sweeter. The peel of the tangerine should be porous, with a uniform color – yellow, yellow-orange or orange. It is worth remembering that orange and golden-orange tangerines are tastier and sweeter; yellow tangerines are usually more acidic.
Clementine
Very often in stores there are clementines – fruits that look like tangerines. Clementines are a hybrid of mandarin and orange, bred at the beginning of the XX century. As a rule, clementines are juicier and sweeter than tangerines, and their skin is thin, smooth and sometimes even glossy. In the vast majority of cases, there are no bones in clementines. Clementines are usually slightly more expensive than classic tangerines.
Mineola
These fruits are found in stores quite rarely. They were obtained as a result of crossing one of the varieties of tangerine – tangerine – with grapefruit of the Duncan variety. Mineolas are noticeably larger than classic tangerines; the fruits resemble a kind of very pot-bellied pear. The skin is thin. The color is orange, sometimes with a reddish tinge. The taste is sweet and sour, but usually the sweetness is felt stronger than sourness; very pleasant smell. Quite a lot of bones.
Tangerines by country of origin
The taste and appearance of a tangerine largely depends on which country it was grown in. As a rule, in each country those varieties of tangerines that grow there in the best way are grown. That is why it is worth paying attention in stores to the line of the price tag, where the country of origin of the fruit is indicated.
Abkhazian tangerines are distinguished by rather small sizes and yellow skin, sometimes with small green spots and veins. They are very juicy, the taste is sweet and sour, perhaps sourness prevails. The number of seeds is small. The peel is peeled relatively easily. Usually they are inexpensive – about 50-60 rubles per kilogram.
Spanish tangerines are distinguished by a fairly high price, large size and thick skin, which easily departs from the pulp. Color — bright orange. The taste is rich, sweet and sour, and the sweetness is felt more strongly. Spanish tangerines are juicy. There aren’t many bones.
Turkish tangerines are inexpensive, but they usually have a lot of bones. Color — yellow or orange; while orange tastes better. The size of the fruit is small. The peel is quite thin, but it hardly moves away from the pulp; taste – sweet and sour, somewhat bland. In general, the option from the series “cheap and angry”.
Moroccan tangerines are usually also relatively inexpensive. The size of the fruits is small, and the fruits themselves are slightly flattened in shape. The color is very beautiful, golden-orange, bright. The peel moves away from the pulp quite easily. The flesh is juicy, rich sweet and sour taste (more still sweet). There are no bones. An excellent option, and at the same time quite affordable.
Chinese tangerines are very rarely found on our market. They are yellow in color, juicy, pleasant sweet and sour taste.
Israeli tangerines are also rarely found in supermarkets. But their characteristics are good: the taste is sweet, the flesh is juicy, the size of the fruit is above average. There aren’t many bones. The color of the peel is yellow-orange, it is not very easy to separate the peel from the crumple – this, perhaps, is the main disadvantage of these tangerines.
It is worth noting that in each country not one variety of tangerines is grown, but several. Therefore, it is likely that you, for example, will meet tangerines from Morocco, which in their characteristics correspond rather to Spanish fruits. I’ve come across this myself. But in any case, Moroccan and Spanish tangerines are better than Turkish and Abkhaz. Although, if you like sour, abkhazian you may like more than Spanish.
Storage of tangerines
It is best to store tangerines in the refrigerator – at a temperature of about +4 – +8 degrees. They should be put in a plastic bag, otherwise they can dry out. It is not necessary to tie the doll, it should be opened a little. But if you plan to store fruits for more than two to three days, it is better to put them in a vegetable container of the refrigerator, laying tangerines with paper; cover the top with a sheet of thick paper (for example, wrapping or parchment).
In any case, it is worth remembering that tangerines at home are not stored for a long time; they should be bought 3-4 days before direct use, in extreme cases – a week. But clementines are stored much better, they can be bought even a couple of weeks before the holiday.
