One of last year’s Tips Of The Day suggested trying a new fruit and vegetable each month.

Have you tried uniq fruit?

Uniq fruit, which has been sold under the brand name Ugli fruit since 1934, was discovered as an accidental seedling in Jamaica.

Ranging in size from a large orange to a large grapefruit, is a variety of tangelo, a citrus fruit created by hybridizing a grapefruit (or pomelo, the parent of the grapefruit, another accidental hybrid).

Ugly it is: wrinkled and rough with splotchy coloring and surface scarring, its skin is wrapped very loosely over the pulp.

It’s the shar-pei of fruit. Yet for a fruit called Ugli, it has a refreshing citrus taste and is very juicy.

The flavor is representative of its parents, somewhere between a mandarin and a grapefruit.

 
Generally available from December through April, uniq fruit is usually sold ripe and ready to eat.

Choose fruit that is richly colored and fragrant and store at room temperature for up to one week (two weeks in the fridge).

Uniq fruit can be enjoyed in much the same way as other citrus fruit. As a grab-and-go fruit (hand fruit*), it can be eaten out of hand on whatever spot you happen to be perched.

Find more of our favorite fruits in our Gourmet Fruit Section.

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*Hand fruit is the industry term for fruit that can be eaten from the hand: apples, bananas, oranges, pears, etc. Fruits that are not hand fruit: coconuts, cranberries, melons, pineapples, quinces, etc.

[2] Selective breeding has resulted in a more attractive skin (photo courtesy Kedem).

[3] The inside of an Ugli/uniq fruit looks very similar to a grapefruit (photo courtesy Melissa’s).