Top 10 citrus fruits you probably haven't tried
Citrus should not surprise us — a lemon every day added to tea, and tangerines are buying not only for the New year. But the citrus family is not limited to only these fruits. In the world there are many fragrant fruits that you may not yet have tried, and even hardly heard about them. About a dozen citrus new products to our selection.
1. Agli
This citrus was obtained in 1914 by crossing a tangerine and grapefruit. The fruit was a bit larger than a grapefruit, but tastes more like a mixture of Mandarin and lemon. Agli has a sweet juicy pulp and wrinkled, greenish-yellow skin. It is cultivated mainly in USA, Florida, so there will be a passage — try it!
2. Bergamot
It turns out, is not only a flavoring for tea, and citrus, obtained by crossing the citron and orange. Has a sour but pleasant taste. Bergamot, unlike most citrus fruits, are eaten only in processed in the form of cooked jam, jam, marmalade.
3. Ghanima
Fruit native to wild places of India. Has a sour taste due to which the people of South India even use it for marinating. Peel ganimi has specific odor reminiscent of ginger or eucalyptus.
4. Clementine
Hybrid citrus, derived in 1902 in Algeria by the French priest father Clement (where, in fact, the name). Reminiscent of Mandarin, has a pleasant taste, is bred mainly in the Mediterranean countries (including Algeria, Spain, Italy, Morocco).
5. Natsudaidai
Unlike his decorative brother called cicadidae, which are also grown in Japan, natsudaidai absolutely edible — it is a hybrid of sour orange (citrus Aurantium) and the pomelo. However, it is much more sour this fruit. This plant was discovered in the garden of the Prefecture of Yamaguchi in the XVII century, and since then natsudaidai is a symbol of the Prefecture of the city.
6. Finger lime
It is not like becoming familiar lime! It is sometimes called citrus caviar — colored pulp, consisting of small elastic particles, and the truth is reminiscent of caviar. Varieties of finger lime a lot, and apparently these fruits are oval in shape resemble multi-colored cucumbers. Most popularity this fruit was in Australia: local chefs actively using it in cooking, adding finger lime to salads and even soups, served as a garnish, adorn the flesh of meats and fish.
7. Ponkan (suntara)
In fact, it is Mandarin, but for taste and nutritional qualities superior to any tangerines and their hybrids. The pulp of ripe fruit is orange, juicy, sweet, with lots of bones. People eat not only the fruit but also the leaves — they make a fragrant tea that quenches thirst.
8. Hassaku
It is also a variety of Mandarin, which however is not similar to the Mandarin smell or taste: he reminds both of orange, Mandarin and grapefruit and has a sweet-sour taste with a slight bitterness. Want to try? Will have to go to Japan, in Hiroshima Prefecture. Interestingly, they do not eat immediately after removing from the branches — the fruit of hassaku have a month or two to lie down in a dark place, if not the ground or the sand. So this acquires citrus sweetness.
9. Naranjilla
A plant native to the Andes foothills, but try these fruits can not only there, but in Costa Rica, Peru, Colombia, and Ecuador. It is a shrub 1.5-2 m, which looks so attractive that it is used as an ornamental plant for greenhouses and gardens. Its fruits look like small oranges, but their taste resembles a surprising mixture of pineapple, passion fruit and strawberry. Inside the fruit naranjilla contains many creamy-white seeds, like tomato seeds.
10. Feronia lemon ("wood Apple", Persian lemon)
Another citrus native to India, which is characterized by large fruits (up to 12 cm) with solid wooden peel. The flesh is unattractive, but the taste of her great — feronia can be both sweet and sour.
So in your travels don't forget to try the local exotic citrus, which are unlikely to find in our supermarkets.