Come summers and you know it is time to immerse yourself in the world of citrus flavours! The lime and the lemony notes team with orangy tang to drive away all our summer woes.
You may not have known before but there exists a different world of citrus fruits that can be explored. This season we are busy exploring the distant cousins of our lemons and oranges. While most of them are enthusiastically relished in different parts of the world, some of them are exotic and unheard of.
Explore this in this article. Take a look!
- Meyer lemon: Native to China, this citrusy delight is believed to be a cross between a lemon and a mandarin or orange. Sweet and juicy Meyer lemons are prized by chefs and loved by home cooks. Bright yellow in colour they are plumper and less acidic than regular lemons with thinner peels and more floral scent.
- Mandarin: Best relished as a fruit or in salads, Mandarins look smaller and slightly dwarfish when compared to oranges. China is the largest producer of mandarin followed by Spain. Brazil and Japan. The fruit assumes distinct significance during Chinese New Year celebration.
- Blood orange: A treat for your eyes and your taste buds! These are so visually appealing that just a small slice of the exquisite fruit jazzes up even the most mundane looking preparation. The crimson coloured flesh adds dramas to any delicacy and sits firm on the palate as well. Its distinct colour comes with the presence of a certain colour rendering anti-oxidant called anthocyanins.
- Clementine: This one is a hybrid of sweet orange and the mandarin. These are quite similar to tangerines and are often confused with mandarins as well. While mandarins are native to China and tangerines are believed to have reached Europe from North Africa, Clementine were first cultivated in America.
- Buddha’s hand: Also known as the fingered citron, Buddha’s Hand gets its name owing to its similarity to a human hand. The fruit is believed to have originate in parts of India or China. The fruit is extremely fragrant and is therefore, used for perfuming purposes. The fruit has a great religious significance in Buddhist, Chinese and Korean culture. In most cases , the fruit contains no juice or pulp. However it is used as a flavouring agent in savoury dishes, beverages and desserts.
- Kaffir lime: Give your regular lime a rest and try this pan-Asian favourite. Kaffir lime is not new to food enthusiasts. Kaffir lime comes with a distinct aroma and flavour that renders traditional lime-based dishes or beverages a fresh character. It is easily cultivated and available in tropical regions of Asia such as countries like Thailand, India, Indonesia, Malaysia and Bangladesh. Apart from trying it in savoury dishes and salads, you can also try creating a range of summer drinks and drunk a kaffir lime in it for extra punch.
- Pomelo: Also known as Jabong in Hawaii and Jumbura in Bengali, pomelo looks like a giant grapefruit and is found in South and South-East Asia. Pomelo is one of the biggest in size in the citrus family and can go up to 10-30 centi-metres in diameter. The fruit can be eaten raw or included in salads too.
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