Despite its most common name, it is a type of mandarin. It is almost seedless, and very tender and sweet. The fruit is not as sweet as other varieties, and it has seeds and a slightly tougher skin.Īlso known as a baby mandarin and a tiny tangerine, this fruit has become popular in British supermarkets for its marketing value, as it is novelly small – about the size of a 50c coin. The name comes from the Moroccan port of Tangiers, through which these fruits were introduced to Britain from China in the 1800s. Tangerines are distinctive for their dark, reddish skin. Its most famous variety is the minneola, recognisable for its distinctive ‘little nose’ or bump at the top of the fruit. It’s especially juicy, and doesn’t have the acidity grapefruits are known for.
Like all mandarins, it is of Chinese origin, but it was introduced to the West via the Japanese province of Satsuma in the 16th century.Ī tangelo is a part-mandarin, a cross between a tangerine and a grapefruit. It tastes similar to a clementine, although some claim it to be a little sweeter. It’s a less common fresh variety than clementines or tangerines, as it’s extremely tender and can be prone to shipping damage. It’s another seedless variety, and is very popular as a tinned fruit. The skin of this fruit is a bit tighter than that of a clementine. It’s also easier to peel than a tangerine – leading to the moniker ‘easy-peelers’. It’s becoming very popular with farmers, as unlike other species it will not develop seeds even if planted near fruits with seeds in. The clementine is a seedless variety of mandarin, believes to have been developed in Algeria around the beginning of the 19th century by a French missionary called Marie-Clement Rodier.
Below is a handy guide to telling the difference between the most common types of mandarin. The name comes from the word for a Chinese businessman, which arrived in English from the Sanskrit word mantri, via Malay and Portuguese. From there they spread to Italy, and then Spain and the rest of the Mediterranean. Mandarins were a relatively late arrival to the West – not appearing in England until 1805. Fashionable Chinese women used to hold these fruits in their hands so that they would be scented by it. Mandarins were first cultivated in ancient southeastern China, having evolved from a wild fruit found in India.
Other fruits such as tangerines, clementines and satsumas are part of the mandarin family. Most people see mandarins as a type of small orange, but in fact they are a completely different variety. Modern-day oranges are a hybrid of mandarins and pomelos. Not quite. It is thought that all contemporary citrus fruits are descended from three original varieties: the mandarin, the citron (related to lemons) and the pomelo (similar to a grapefruit). DO you know your tangelos from your tangerines? Could you recognise a ponkon? Aren’t they all just oranges anyway?
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