[1] The clementine, which happens to be one of the two parents of the orange (photo © Fruits From Chile | Facebook).

[2] Parent #2: the pomelo (photos #2, #3, and #5 © Good Eggs).

[3] The hybrid: the orange (here, a cara cara orange, which is a natural mutation of the navel orange that gave it rosy flesh).

[4] Kishu, the sweetest, most petite of the mandarins (photo © Melissa’s Produce).

[5] The navel orange, which got its name from appearing to have a belly button.

February 15th is National Clementine Day, celebrating one the most popular varieties of mandarin. “Mandarin orange” is a misnomer. While they are in the same genus (Citrus) they are two different species:

 
Thus, there are mandarins and there are oranges, but there are no mandarin oranges.

In fact, the mandarin (photo #1) is actually one of the two parents of the orange (photo #3). The orange is a hybrid of the mandarin and the pomelo** (Citrus maxima, photo #2).

Other familiar mandarins include tangelos, tangerines, tangors, and satsumas.

Mandarins are smaller, easier to peel, and generally sweeter, while pomelos are large and acidic, like grapefruit***.

We hope the kishu (photo #4), a very small, ultra-sweet, seedless mandarin from Japan, will become more common in the U.S. They are now grown in small amounts in California. They have a short growing season, December to February.

You can still get some for this season.

Melissa’s Produce, our go-to-for specialty produce is sold out of them for the season, but Frog Hollow Farm still has some to send.

> Check out the differences between mandarins and oranges.

> The history of oranges.

> All 80+ fruit holidays are listed below.

> The history of mandarins is also below.
 
 
THE CLASSIFICATION OF FRUITS VS. VEGETABLES

In the list of fruit holidays below, you’ll notice some fruits that you think of as vegetables—eggplants and squash, for example.

That’s because of botanical classification, the scientific system of categorizing and naming plants based on their shared characteristics and evolutionary relationships.

You probably studied it in high school biology*.

Briefly, the botanical difference between fruits and vegetables:

 
A simple way to think about it is: If there are seeds inside the item of produce you buy, it’s a fruit, no matter what it tastes like.

We want to take a minute to explain the classification system.

> If you don’t want to review it, just skip to the next section.
 
 
Why Does The Nibble Care About Classification?

We like to know about food, down to the tiniest details. We love learning little thing like: Apples, berries, pears, nuts, and stone fruits are members of the rose family, along with numerous non-edible plants and flowers.

We like to understand things, such as: There is absolutely no relationship between black pepper and chile peppers, even though they are both hot and spicy. (That heat is why Columbus named chiles “peppers,” misguiding humankind from that point on.)

When we wondered why Brussels sprouts often have a tinge of mustard flavor, we learned that they are both members of the Brassicaceae family, also called Brassicas, the cruciferous family, and the mustard family.

Mustard greens gave the family its casual name. Check out all of the familiar vegetable members in the footnote‡. (Brassicas the vegetables that are the most high in antioxidants).
 
 
This Classification Is The Same For Plants, Animals & All Other Living Things

The main ranks of classification (with examples for the orange):

 
Each species can have numerous susbspecies. Familiar subspecies include:

Native to Southeast Asia, mandarins are believed to have originated in Southern China, India, and Vietnam. They were likely cultivated as early as the 10th century B.C.E., though some evidence suggests they might have been domesticated even earlier in China.

Little information is available about mandarins in Chinese literature, but as far back as 1178 C.E., Chinese author Han Yen-chih described 27 different varieties of mandarins (source: Etienne Rabe, Vice President Agronomy, Wonderful Citrus).

Highly valued for their sweet flavor and aromatics, the fruit was considered a symbol of good luck and prosperity in Chinese culture.

The name “mandarin” was bestowed by European traders, after the Mandarins who were high-ranking government officials in China during the imperial era. The fruit was exotic, prized, and respected, like the Mandarin officials themselves.

Its name in Mandarin Chinese is chéngzi.

The name “mandarin” for the fruit didn’t appear in the West until the 16th century. It had begun to spread beyond China long before then.

 
 
THE YEAR’S 80+ FRUIT HOLIDAYS

Note that this list features holidays that focus on the fruit itself, but not recipes made with the fruit. Thus, it shows “Apple Day,” but not “Apple Pie Day.”

An exception is when the fruit is easily transformed into a related product (e.g., apple juice), or when it honors the plant that bears the fruit (e.g., apple tree).

 
 
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*The Six Kingdoms System consists of Animalia (animals), Plantae (plants), Fungi (mushrooms, molds, yeasts), Protista (single-celled eukaryotes like amoebas and algae), Bacteria (true bacteria), and Archaea (ancient bacteria-like organisms).

Minerals are not part of modern biological classification because they are non-living substances.

When we went to high school, we were taught three kingdoms—Plant, Animal, and Mineral. In 1990, based on advancements in molecular biology and phylogenetics, the six-kingdom system was established, building on earlier classification systems. See them in the footnote*.

The first classification system, dividing all living things into Animal and Plant, was established by Carl Linnaeus in 1735. It is continuously refined with advances in plant genetics and phylogenetics.

**The orange, a hybrid, gets its sweetness from its mandarin parent; from their pomelo parent, it gets its larger size—although oranges are not as large as pomelos, which are larger than grapefruits.

***The grapefruit itself (Citrus × paradisi) is a hybrid, between a pomelo and an orange. The pomelo (Citrus maxima, photo #2) is not a hybrid but a species in its own right. The pomelo is considered the largest of the citrus fruits. It is native to Southeast Asia and the Pacific Islands.

†Savior of the Apple Feast Day is one of the three holidays in Russian Orthodox Christianity when food is consecrated in the church and then consumed by the faithful (the others are the Honey Feast of the Savior on August 14th and the Nut Feast of the Savior on August 29th).

The holiday is of pre-Christian origin and is associated with the collection of ripe fruit, especially apples. Usually, on this day, people eat apples, apple pies, or other dishes with apples, even if they are not Russian Orthodox.

‡The Cruciferous vegetables, in alphabetical order: arugula (Eruca vesicaria), broccoli (Brassica oleracea var. italica) Brussels sprouts (Brassica oleracea var. gemmifera), cabbage (Brassica oleracea), cauliflower (Brassica oleracea var. botrytis), collard greens (Brassica oleracea var. viridis), horseradish (Armoracia rusticana) kale (Brassica oleracea var. acephala), mustard greens (Brassica juncea), radishes (Raphanus sativus), rutabagas (Brassica napus), turnips (Brassica rapa), and wasabi (Wasabia japonica—in the Brassicaceae family but in the genus Wasabia instead of Brassica).
 

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Even if you’re not a big fan of hot chile peppers, these caramels from M. Cacao are hot stuff.

Chef Delphin Gomes: Michael collaborates with Chef Delphin Gomes, a French pastry master, and Michael Nichols, the company founder, to develop chocolate creations that never fail to dazzle.

For this box of spicy caramel enrobed in the finest chocolate, the chocolatiers took their chocolate covered caramels and added just enough pulverized chile pepper to provide great chile flavor without burning the tongue numb.

They are still hot, we hasten to add, but chile connoisseurs can actually taste the different fruit flavors* of each type of chile.

Plus, you can customize your box of caramels to the particular level of heat you want, whether all mild, medium, or hot, or a combination.

We’ll get to them in a moment, but first:

> The history of chiles.

> The different types of chiles: a photo glossary.

> The Scoville scale that establishes heat level—SHU, for Scoville Heat Units.

> Below: Chile vs. chili vs. chilli and chiles vs. peppers, and why The Nibble uses “chiles” instead of “peppers.”

> Below: The difference between fruits and vegetables.
 
 
CARAMEL + CHILE ENROBED IN CHOCOLATE:

TAKE YOUR PICK

Before we describe each of the chiles to you, we don’t want to bury the shopping information.

There are eight different types of chile caramels, and M. Cacao offers their caramels 8-piece and 16-piece boxes.

You can choose a mixed box of everything, a box of the lower-heat chiles only, or a box of the high-heat chiles only.

And if it all becomes too much for you, try a scoop of ice cream. The dairy is a great help in neutralizing the capsaicinoids, the chemical compounds that give chile peppers their spicy flavor and burn.

> Get your chile caramels from M. Cacao here and prepare to sizzle.
 
 
INTRODUCING THE 8 CARAMEL CHILES

Note that the heat level of chiles varies depending on subspecies, terroir, and growing conditions.
 
1. Green Hatch Chile

Mild Hatch chiles measure from 1,000–2,500 SHU, similar to Anaheim chiles. They deliver an earthy, smoky, rich flavor to the caramel (photo #3).
 
2. Red Hatch Chile

Red Hatch chiles are the ripened version of the green chiles, with similar heat. In addition to the earthy and smoky flavors, ripeness adds a buttery quality (photo #4).
 
3. Serrano Tampiqueño Chile

Serrano Tampiqueño chiles, a variety of serrano, has medium-high heat—typically between 10,000 and 23,000 SHU. They are hotter than jalapeños but milder than Thai chiles or habaneros (photo #5).

Known for their bright, fresh flavor, they have a delayed-fuse heat, allowing their flavor notes to unfold first.
 
4. Scotch Bonnet Chile

Scotch Bonnet chiles typically range between 100,000 and 350,000 SHUs. This places them in the same heat range as habaneros, but with a slightly sweeter and fruitier flavor (photo #6).

Its complex profile including flavors of tomato and apple are appreciated by chile lovers.
 
5. Habanero Chile

The bright fruity, citrus notes that are beloved in habaneros bite back with ripping heat.

Habanero chiles typically range between 100,000 and 350,000 SHU (photo #7).
 
6. Ghost Chile

Previously ranked as the the world’s hottest† chile pepper, these caramels are prepared in such a way that you’ll enjoy the smoky, deeply peppery notes of the chile before the slow burning heat rises up to haunt you (photo #8).
 
7. Scorpion Chile

Scorpion chiles are aggressively hot, with a long-lasting, lingering heat signature. The flavors you’ll experience before the heat gets you are citrusy, sweet, and even floral (photo #9).
 
8. Carolina Reaper Chile

Another opportunity for “death by chocolate,” the Carolina Reaper chile caramel is a delicious way to tempt fate. Even if you like it hot, start with a small nibble from one corner (photo #10).
 
 
WHY CHILES ARE CALLED PEPPERS

The first chiles were brought to Spain in 1493 by Diego Álvarez Chanca, a physician on Columbus’ second voyage to the West Indies. He first wrote about their medicinal effects in 1494.

From Europe, chiles spread rapidly to India, China, and Japan. In Europe, they first were grown in the monastery gardens of Spain and Portugal as botanical curiosities.

The monks experimented with their culinary potential and discovered that their pungency offered an inexpensive substitute for black peppercorns, which were so costly in Europe that they were used as legal currency in some countries.

“Chile pepper” is a misnomer, and the term “pepper” is not used in Latin America where chiles originated.

The etymology:

 
How did we get from “chile” to “pepper?”

The first European to come across hot chiles was Christopher Columbus, when he landed in the Caribbean. He called them “pimientos” (the Spanish word for black pepper) because of their fiery similarity to black peppercorns with which he was familiar.

He brought the “peppers” back to Europe and chiles have been mis-named peppers ever since. But the two aren’t related at the order and family levels of botanical classification.

THE NIBBLE uses the authentic word, “chile,” and for elucidation for everyone who grew up with “pepper,” we often use “chile pepper.” But beyond peppercorns, never use “pepper,” except in the case of bell peppers, which have no heat.

Why not call bells pepper, too? Because most peopled don’t realize that bell peppers, a mild vegetable, are related to hot chiles.
 
 
THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN CHILES & PEPPER

Chiles

 
 
Black Pepper

 
To clear up another item of confusion, there is:
 
 
Szechuan (Sichuan) Pepper

Szechuan (Sichuan) pepper is neither pepper nor chile (photo #12). It comes from the dried husks of berries from trees in the Zanthoxylum genus of deciduous and evergreen trees, and belongs specifically to the citrus family of trees.

 
________________
 
*The difference between fruits and vegetables: In botanical terms, a fruit is the part of a plant that develops from a flower and contains seeds. Chiles grow from the flower of the plant and contain seeds, making them a fruit by definition. Among the various categories of fruits, chiles are classified as a berry because they have fleshy pulp and seeds enclosed in a single ovary.

[1] Colorful caramels, packed with heat, each hot chile with its own logo. This box contains all 8 flavors (all photos © M. Cacao ).

[2] This box contains only the hot flavors. You can choose a milder box or a hot box instead of the mixed box.

[3] Green Hatch chile caramel. Each chile caramel variety has its own special design.

[4] Red Hatch chile caramel.

[5] Serrano chile caramel.

[6] Scotch bonnet chile caramel.

[7] Habanero chile caramel.

[8] Scorpion chile caramel.

[9] Ghost chile caramel.

[10] Carolina reaper chile caramel.

[10] Want even more heat? Check out these chocolate-covered whole chiles! They’re not caramels—just pure chiles.

[11] Black, white, and green peppercorns are the members of Piper nigrum. Green peppercorns are not yet ripe, and white peppercorns are white with the black husks—which contain most of the capsaicin—removed (photo © iStock Photo).

[12] Szechuan (Sichuan) pepper: not peppercorns but the bud of a tree in the citrus family (photo © The Spice House).

Other botanical fruits used as vegetables include tomatoes, peppers, zucchini, and cucumbers [source: Chat GPT 2025-02-04].
 
†Heat levels have gotten so much attention from chile lovers that breeders are constantly coming up with new, hotter varieties.
 

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[1] The Marry Me recipe, below (photos #1 and #2 © Nancy Mock | Taste Of Home).

[2] Marry Me cookie dough.

[3] The original I Want To Marry You cookie by Melissa Stadler. You can press an extra chunk of chocolate into the top of the cookies when they come out of the oven (photos #3 and #4 © Modern Honey).

[4] A batch of original I Want To Marry You cookies.

[5] A personal favorite for Valentine’s Day is a peanut butter cookie topped with a chocolate heart. Here’s the recipe (photo © The Baker Chick).

[6] While this photo and the next one look like more “appropriate” Valentine’s Day cookies, they usually look a lot better than they taste (photo via Webneel).

Is there a romantic cookie for Valentine’s Day—beyond those heart-shaped sugar cookies (photo #1)? Yes: It’s called the Marry Me cookie (a.k.a. I Want To Marry You Cookies).

Well…if marketing means something, then it might be the rich chocolate chip cookies with caramel notes that are supposedly so good they inspire marriage proposals—the so-called Marry Me cookies (also called I Want To Marry You cookies).

Marry Me Cookies are made with browned butter, semisweet and white chocolate chips, plus oats for texture and added flavor notes. And for that hint of something special, a bit of cinnamon.

>The recipe is below.

While Marry Me cookies contain no aphrodisiacs (unless chocolate counts), they are so good, the story goes, that you just might get a proposal.

Or in these times, instead of a pre-selected† ring, you might hand a tin of them them to your beloved along with your proposal.

This works whether you are proposing to a man or a woman.

And even if it’s a gift for a family member or friend, you’ll win hearts.

> The history of cookies.

> The 11 basic cookie styles.

> The different types of cookies: a photo glossary.

> Check out all the cookie holidays (there are 44!).

> The history of Marry Me Cookies is below.

 
 
RECIPE: MARRY ME COOKIES 

In this variation of the recipe the cookies are jumbo—more than four inches in diameter (photo #1). They have a welcome blend of textures: crispy at the edges but chewy to bite through, with a rich and fudgy flavor.

Thanks to Taste Of Home for the recipe.

For best results, use a better brand of chips like Guittard.

You can also add your own touches. The first time we made them, we added pistachio nuts, a refreshing change from pecans or walnuts. Macadamias also work well here (as anyone who ever had the original Mrs. Fields’ Macadamia White Chocolate Chip Cookies will attest).

On our second pass, we used toffee bits instead of nuts. We would gladly marry either version. Other options:

 
Ingredients For 24 Jumbo Cookies

________________
 
*To keep as much moisture in the butter as possible, melt it over low heat or in short bursts in the microwave just until it liquefies.
________________

Preparation

1. BEAT together the granulated and brown sugars with the melted butter, using a stand or hand mixer on medium speed until the ingredients are blended. Pop the mixture into the fridge for 10 minutes to cool. Then…

2. BEAT the eggs one at a time into the butter-sugar mixture, blending them in very well after each addition. Mix in the vanilla extract.

3. MIX together in a separate bowl the dry ingredients: flour, oats, salt, baking soda, and cinnamon. Add the dry mixture into the wet ingredients gradually, with the mixer running at medium-low speed. Finally…

4. STIR the white chocolate and semisweet chocolate chips into the batter. Scrape the bowl well to catch any unmixed pockets at the bottom of the bowl.

5. LINE two large baking sheets with parchment paper. Use a quarter-cup-sized cookie scoop or measuring cup to scoop the dough. (If you have a kitchen scale, the portions should weigh about 2.5 ounces.) Place the scoops on the baking sheet spaced two inches apart.

6. PLACE the baking sheets in the fridge to chill the dough for 30 minutes. While it chills, preheat the oven to 325°F. Note: Don’t skip this important chilling step. It firms up the melted butter in the batter and prevents the cookies from spreading too thin during baking.

7. PLACE the baking sheets in the preheated oven and bake the cookies for 18 to 20 minutes. If you have two baking sheets in the oven at once, swap them around halfway through baking so that the cookies bake evenly.

When the cookies are done they’ll be set and lightly browned around the edges, and the centers will look soft and almost underbaked.

8. REMOVE from the oven and let the cookies cool on the baking sheets for two minutes to make them easier to move. Then, use a spatula to carefully transfer them to a cooling rack. Let the cookies completely.

9. STACK them in an airtight container—sheets of wax paper between the layers will keep them from sticking. They’ll taste their best when eaten within a few days of baking, however, you can store them at room temperature for up to two weeks.

They can be frozen, stacked, inside freezer-proof, resealable bags for up to three months. Allow them to defrost in the fridge with the bag slightly vented to prevent condensation that will make the cookies soggy.

TIP: Most of the chocolate chips end up hiding inside the cookies. To make the cookies prettier, add more chips to the outside. Once the dough is scooped, push several white and semisweet chocolate chips into the tops; once baked, they’ll become beautiful, eye-catching pockets of chocolate (photos #3 and #4).

TIP: Don’t make the dough the day before. The oats will absorb the moisture, making it dough dry and crumbly. Instead, you can partially mix the ingredients the day before, withholding the oats, chocolate chips, and nuts. Then, prior to baking, allow the dough to sit out for 30 minutes before adding those ingredients and baking as directed.

The origin of the story appears to be a winning recipe entered in a Food Channel contest in 2012. The “I Want To Marry You” cookies created by Melissa Stadler of Modern Honey were their most popular recipe that year.

> Here’s Melissa’s recipe and the full story of how it came to be.

Briefly, Melissa was a big fan of The Food Network. In the spring of 2011 the network announced a contest on behalf of their new sister channel, The Cooking Channel. The grand prize winner would win a trip to NYC to film a segment for the show.

She submitted a browned butter cookie that she had been working on perfecting for years, gave them the name “I Want To Marry You,” and sent off the recipe.

The recipe became popular through food blogs and social media, with different bakers adding their own touches, and shortening the name to Marry Me.
 
 
________________
 
†Remember that episode of Sex In The City where Aidan proposes to Carrie with a ring that she finds very different from her taste (“Just Say Yes,” Season 4, Episode 12)? Consider it a teaching moment.
 
 
 

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