Top 10 Citrus Fruits You Probably Haven't Tried yet
Citrus fruits will not surprise us — many people add lemon to tea every day, and tangerines are bought not only for the New Year. But the citrus family is not limited only to these fruits. There are many flavorful fruits in the world that you may not have tasted yet, or even heard of them. About a dozen citrus novelties, our today's selection.
1. Agli
This citrus was obtained in 1914 by crossing tangerine and grapefruit. The fruit is slightly larger than a grapefruit, but it tastes more like a mixture of tangerine and lemon. Agli has a sweet juicy flesh and a wrinkled greenish-yellow skin. It is grown mainly in the USA, the state of Florida, so you will be passing through there-try it!
2. Bergamot
It turns out that this is not only a flavor for tea, but also citrus, obtained by crossing citron and orange. It has a sour, but pleasant taste. Bergamot, unlike most citrus fruits, is eaten only in a processed form — jam, jam, and marmalade are made from it.
3. Gayanima
The fruit is native to the wild places of India. It has a sour taste, thanks to which the inhabitants of South India even use it when marinating. The skin of gayanima has a specific aroma, reminiscent of the smell of ginger or eucalyptus.
4. Clementine
Hybrid citrus, bred in 1902 in Algeria by the French priest Father Clement (where, in fact, the name). It resembles mandarin, has a pleasant taste, is bred mainly in Mediterranean countries (the same Algeria, Spain, Italy, Morocco).
5. Natsudaidai
Unlike its ornamental counterpart called kikudaidai, which is also grown in Japan, natsudaidai is absolutely edible — it is a hybrid of sour orange (orange) and pomelo. However, it is much more acidic than these fruits. This plant was discovered in the garden of Yamaguchi Prefecture in the 17th century, and since then, natsudaidai has been the symbol of the prefecture of this city.
6. Finger lime
It is completely different from the lime that has become familiar to us! It is sometimes called citrus caviar - for the colorful flesh, consisting of elastic small particles, and really reminiscent of caviar. There are many varieties of finger lime, and outwardly these oval-shaped fruits resemble colorful cucumbers. This fruit is most popular in Australia: local chefs actively use it in cooking, adding finger lime to salads and even soups, serving as a side dish, decorating meat and fish dishes with the pulp.
7. Ponkan (suntara)
In fact, it is a tangerine, which, however, is superior in taste and nutritional qualities to any tangerines and their hybrids. The flesh of ripe fruits is orange, juicy, sweet, with a large number of seeds. They eat not only fruits, but also leaves — they make a fragrant tea that perfectly quenches thirst.
8. Hassaku
It is also a variety of mandarin, which nevertheless does not resemble mandarin in either smell or taste: it resembles both orange, mandarin and grapefruit and has a sweet-sour taste with a slight bitterness. Want to try it? I'll have to go to Japan, to Hiroshima Prefecture. Interestingly, they are not eaten immediately after removal from the branches — hassaku fruits should lie in a dark place for a month or two, or even on the ground or sand. This is how this citrus gets its sweetness.
9. Naranhilla
The plant is native to the foothills of the Andes, but you can try these fruits not only there, but also in Costa Rica, Peru, Colombia, Ecuador. This is a shrub with a height of 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 amazing taste resembles a mixture of pineapple, passion fruit and strawberries. Inside the fruit of naranhilla contains many creamy-white seeds, similar to the seeds of a tomato.
10. Lemon feronia ("wooden apple", Persian lemon)
Another citrus is native to India, which is characterized by large fruits (up to 12 cm) with a hard, "wooden" skin. In appearance, the pulp is unattractive, but it tastes great-feronia can be both sweet and sour.
So when traveling, do not forget to try the local exotic citrus fruits, which are unlikely to be found in our supermarkets.