FOOD TIP OF THE DAY: Blood Oranges ~ Bloody Good & In Season
 Raspberry-colored flesh and raspberry flavor nuances make blood oranges a very special fruit. |
From the name, blood oranges should be in season at Halloween. But these wonders are in stores right now. Even our local supermarket has them (but if you can’t find them, you can order them from Melissas.com). They look exactly like regular oranges on the outside, but their inside flesh is a deep rosy red color; and the flavor is a cross between orange and raspberry—some people call them “raspberry oranges.” There are three main varieties; the Tarocco, native to Italy, tends to have a partial raspberry flesh rather than the full-raspberry-hued Moro shown in the photo (the third variety, the Sanguinello, discovered in Spain in 1929, has a reddish skin, few seeds, and a sweet and tender flesh). Whatever you call them, be sure you buy some before the season is over. The Tarocco and Moro are now grown in California—no need to hope for imports. Buy them up and go bloody crazy. | |
| Eat them for breakfast instead of grapefruit (or squeeze them for heavenly juice); add them to fruit salads, green salads, and seafood and chicken salads for beautiful color and flavor; use sections to garnish grilled fish or to create a concasse; enjoy them for dessert and snacks; and make a memorable blood orange sorbet (Ciao Bella Gelato has one available year-round for sale, and we buy plenty of it).
Favorite blood orange recipes: Favorite blood orange products reviewed in THE NIBBLE online magazine: |
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