another yummy fruit discovery ... clementines!

I've never been much a fan of oranges -- maybe its their acidity, they're pain to peel (OK so I'm lazy!), piths are bitter and a hassle to scrape off, and so on.

Well, DH spied a box of Clementine oranges, aka seedless tangerines, in a pretty and tempting display* near the checkout line at the grocery store the other day. He said "ooh I love clementines, let's get some!" and I shrugged an OK, figuring he could have the lot.

Well. These puppies are everything ordinary navel oranges are not.

They're very easy to peel (even for lazy me), have very little pith, and easily separate into segments.

And Oh. My. Goodness. Sweet and juicy with not much acidity. Downright yummy. Me like. :cool:

(*our local grocery store puts up tempting displays of reasonably OK/less awful snack foods near the checkout ... it's their attempt at making checkout lines more family friendly. Hey, kudos to them.)

I like them too! Now, thanks to you, I have to go get some.

Clementines are indeed everything that Navel Oranges are not :) I wish that I actually LIKED citrus fruit - I have tried something called "Ugly Fruit" that had many of the same attractions as Clementines and I liked the taste better. In the end though, they are of course still citrus fruit :o

I do love berries of all kinds, apples and bananas. Indeed I have to watch the latter - I especially like the combination of PB and apples or bananas. This can get the calorie/fat grams right up there... though probably better than dipping them in yummy chocolate :cool:

Love them - and those clementine boxes make handy bottoms for home made panniers.

The other fruit I can't get enough of in the fall/winter is persimmons (not the american ones, the big ones)

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Originally Posted by Cataboo

f in the fall/winter is persimmons (not the american ones, the big ones)

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I just tasted some persimmon pulp at a local farmers market, and to me it tasted like pumpkin. Do the large ones have the same taste? Just curious how they differ. I think they had added things to the pulp I tasted, which is why I am wondering.

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Originally Posted by Catrin

I just tasted some persimmon pulp at a local farmers market, and to me it tasted like pumpkin. Do the large ones have the same taste? Just curious how they differ. I think they had added things to the pulp I tasted, which is why I am wondering.

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Hrm. I only ever have pumpkin in pumpkin pies or pumpkin soup. Persimmons are sort of a subtle flavor - they do taste ever so slightly cinnamon like.

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Originally Posted by Cataboo

Hrm. I only ever have pumpkin in pumpkin pies or pumpkin soup. Persimmons are sort of a subtle flavor - they do taste ever so slightly cinnamon like.

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Apparently they had other things mixed into the pulp then, for it certainly tasted like pumpkin to me. I have been wanting to try persimmons but have rarely run across them. I will keep looking, thanks!

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Originally Posted by Catrin

Apparently they had other things mixed into the pulp then, for it certainly tasted like pumpkin to me. I have been wanting to try persimmons but have rarely run across them. I will keep looking, thanks!

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If you get any of the big korean supermarkets out there, they usually have them.

How different our tastebuds can be.

I don't taste pumpkin flavours nor cinnamon naturally in fresh whole persimmons.

Just make sure you buy/eat them when they are nice soft and very ripe. So that it will lessen the astringent flavour/puckerish taste. I've seen recipes for persimmon bread, cookies, squares and cakes.

I've seen them often enough in major mainstream supermarket chains around this time, where I've lived for the past 15-20 yrs. here in Canada (Toronto, Vancouveer),...including Calgary. :rolleyes:

Another fruit I haven't quite figured out to eat properly or eat good ones are cactus pears.

mmmmmm- love Clementines, but so far have struck out twice this year- they just weren't too good. Hope the next batch will be up to standard.

And what about pomegranates? As a kid, I confess I would sneak into yards to steal pomegranates. They're a lot of trouble to unwrap, but delicious

Clementines are good, but Satsumas are better. :p Another seedless member of the tangerine family. They're more frost sensitive, and we could get them in S Louisiana - grown down along the Mississippi River. I was surprised I could get them here in Seattle.

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Originally Posted by shootingstar

How different our tastebuds can be.

I don't taste pumpkin flavours nor cinnamon naturally in fresh whole persimmons.

Just make sure you buy/eat them when they are nice soft and very ripe. So that it will lessen the astringent flavour/puckerish taste. I've seen recipes for persimmon bread, cookies, squares and cakes.

Another fruit I haven't quite figured out to eat properly or eat good ones are cactus pears.

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Do you mean like prickly pear cactus pears or like dragon fruit (the hot pink one with the black speckled inside)? I like eating the latter just'cause it's really cool looking.

I actually tend to get the persimmons that stay firm when ripe - I don't know if fuyu is the variety or if that's just japanese for persimmon. I've never been able to stand the texture of squishy persimmon. If mine get squishy, I make juice out of them or give them to people i know that like them squishy.

There's an american persimmon tree in my Mom's yard - we'd always try to trick someone into eating them before the first frost...

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And what about pomegranates? As a kid, I confess I would sneak into yards to steal pomegranates. They're a lot of trouble to unwrap, but delicious

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Ijust had one this morning. I'm at my Mom's and she left out pineapple and pomegranate for me for breakfast. Which means she's going to send me home with a ton of them 'cause the rest of my siblings are ingrates and don't like fruit as much :)


I actually love naval oranges, I haven't really had them in a long time. When I was young my parents used to order a couple crates/boxes of naval oranges and then about a month later a crate/box of tangelos up from Florida. My siblings didn't like fruit and we'd get in a heck of a lot of trouble if the oranges went bad, so I used to have to eat like 4 or 5 of them a day throughout the winter. But my Mom doesn't order them anymore.

Clementine's are the best. Be forewarned, there is always the "stray" with seeds and ick. But the rest of the delicious goodness makes it worth it.

//gawd, this was hard to type, after Christmas Eve dinner with the familty...and lots of wine, champagne, and Firelite liqueur.

Love Clementines. They're great for bringing to work. They take no time to peel and they go down quickly.

Persimmons are good too. It's just hard to wait until they get ripe. Sometimes I end up eating them too early. Yuck :(. With persimmons you have to wait until 3 days after you think they should have been thrown out. Then they're perfect.

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Do you mean like prickly pear cactus pears or like dragon fruit (the hot pink one with the black speckled inside)? I like eating the latter just'cause it's really cool looking.

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I originally meant prickly cactus pears. I had them for the first time, you can believe this, on a topless beach on Greek island. It was a shock to me to be at the beach..then a local guy hiked down a 18% grade cliff near by with his basket of cactus pears. They were delicious.

Since then, I haven't found the ones in stores here satisfactory.

I love dragonfruit. Easy to eat, once one cuts through the soft pink skin.

I eat a naval orange every day; I don't feel too guilty about buying them when they are coming from another country. Sometimes it's hit or miss with the flavor, but I find if I drink even a half a glass of oj, it puts on the pounds. So, I try to eat the fresh fruit instead. I like clementines, but I find that a lot of them don't have much of a taste, like they are not sweet enough. When you buy one of those big boxes, it's a lot of crappy tasting fruit to eat! One of my kids was obsessed with eating clementines for awhile, so we always had them in the house.

We love clementines and buy them as soon as we see the boxes in our grocery store in early December. I think they have been particularly sweet this year. When all our family came to celebrate Christmas last weekend, we bought 6, yes 6, cases and they are all gone. Have to buy some more!

As far as pomegranates, one of my sisters-in-law brought one last weekend and made a salad with grapefruit, pears, and pom. seeds. It was just delicious and what a nice combination. The salad was very pretty and colorful! You can do it ahead because the grapefruit acidity keeps the pears from getting brown. What little bit was left, I ate for breakfast in the morning!

Merry Christmas everyone!

Pomegranates are a Christmas tradition for us, but when I went to the grocery store they were all soft & mushy, so I didn't get one. We'll delay this tradition until I find a good one.

I love pomegranates. Pain in the neck to open and pick the seeds out of, but so worth it.

I'll have to try clementines. I don't like most citrus for exactly the reasons the OP described, so...

My favorite citrus is the blood orange! Not in season now, but it's easy to peel, no seeds, and a great flavor.

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Originally Posted by bmccasland

Clementines are good, but Satsumas are better. :p Another seedless member of the tangerine family. They're more frost sensitive, and we could get them in S Louisiana - grown down along the Mississippi River. I was surprised I could get them here in Seattle.

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My parents have four or five satsuma trees. Around Thanksgiving and Christmas, they literally pick buckets of them. I can't get enough. When I am home, I can easily eat 5-10 a day. Just at the last one that I brought back from Christmas :-(