Which Orange are You Buying this Christmas?

A very special treat when I was a child on the farm back in the 1950's and 1960's on the Canadian prairies was Christmas oranges. We loved those oranges. They were delivered in wooden boxes and individually wrapped in green paper. Every Christmas morning one would be in the toe of my stocking. They were so delicious.

Today I feel like I have lost the spark and take them for granted. This is probably because they are available throughout the year. They aren't just a Christmas treat. I rarely buy them. Instead I find that navel oranges are so delicious and juicy. A part of my family tradition has gone by the wayside.

Yesterday my neighbour brought me samples of all the oranges she bought. "Which one do you prefer?" she asks.

The orange wrapped in red tissue is from Japan. As a child our oranges always came from Japan and they were so good. I found this orange to be the juiciest but had a bland flavour. There was a lot of white pith and I hate white pith. I meticulously remove all of it before I eat the segments.

The orange in green tissue is from China. Biases aside about eating produce from China, this had the flavour I remember from my childhood. It had the same peel, the same amount of pith and the same flavour.







However, my favourite was the clementine from California. The citrus flavour bursts in your mouth. The peel came off easily and it had no white pith. It was juicy enough.

Thank you, Hannah, for the taste experience. It was fun.