Thanks for mandarin oranges- Canada

Subject: RE: Thanks for mandarin oranges- Canada
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 18 Jun 07 - 01:49 PM

Old favorites can disappear suddenly from the markets. Good peaches are hard to find in markets here. Haven't seen the juicy, sugary Elberta for a couple of seasons; they don't ship well.

I remember when Winesap apples were my favorite, not only for eating, but for well-flavored pies, etc. Now they are unobtainable in the market place, and the variety seems to have survived only in backyard otchards.
Golden Delicious now has a lot less flavor than in the past- it is totally bland.
A whole new batch of apples are on the market. Fuji came into the market, but is being supplanted here by Cripps, Pink Lady, and others of that ilk, which are good, but almost seem 'manufactured,' to my taste.
Granny Smith persists, esp. for cooking, but lacks the flavor and bite of the disappeared Winesap.
Only the lucky few have their own little orchards and can search out and grow their favorites.

Subject: RE: Thanks for mandarin oranges- Canada
From: SINSULL
Date: 18 Jun 07 - 01:34 PM

I miss free-stone peaches. They used to be the supermarket standard but I can't find them anywhere, Probably because people don't like the fuzz. When do those amazing peaches come out of Washington?

Subject: RE: Thanks for mandarin oranges- Canada
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 17 Jun 07 - 01:41 PM

Naval oranges are so undressed!
Good for squeezing.

Subject: RE: Thanks for mandarin oranges- Canada
From: Little Hawk
Date: 16 Jun 07 - 11:26 PM

Mandarins? Clementines? I don't like 'em for some reason. Give me navel oranges every time.

Subject: RE: Thanks for mandarin oranges- Canada
From: GUEST,heric
Date: 16 Jun 07 - 10:36 PM

And now clementines from Chile are on the shelves and they are to die for!

Subject: RE: Thanks for mandarin oranges- Canada
From: dianavan
Date: 03 Jan 07 - 02:00 PM

Me, too, number 6 and thank goodness my adult children do the same.

I have known people who change their diets regularly but once the switch to organics is made, nobody ever goes back to inorganic if organic is available.

Subject: RE: Thanks for mandarin oranges- Canada
From: number 6
Date: 02 Jan 07 - 11:20 PM

We try to make sure most of the food we buy and subsequently eat is organic .... might cost more but what the hell, it's our bodies and most of the organic product is sourced from small private independent farmers ... not corporate plantations

biLL

Subject: RE: Thanks for mandarin oranges- Canada
From: dianavan
Date: 02 Jan 07 - 03:15 PM

For those of you who want to know why its important to pay attention to genetically modified foods, this is a good link:

http://www.newswithviews.com/Smith/jeffrey.htm

And I found this about genetically engineered foods:

http://www.truefoodnow.org/home_whatis.html

"To create GE crops, genes from bacteria, viruses, plants, animals and even humans have been inserted into plants like soybeans, corn, canola, and cotton. Multinational chemical companies like Monsanto have taken our staple crops and altered them in order to patent and profit from them by increasing their chemical and seed sales and gaining control over farmers and the food chain itself. The same companies that brought us DDT, PCBs and Agent Orange now expect us to trust them with our food supply."

Subject: RE: Thanks for mandarin oranges- Canada
From: number 6
Date: 01 Jan 07 - 09:32 PM

Here is something shocking ... I guess they can continue feeding live cows food supercharged with the remains of dead cows.

One other reason to convince me my road to Nirvana is ensured if I continue eating vegetarian .... Nirvana?!?! Hell it's my health that makes me not eat meat.


Good Gawd !



"This a plus for consumers worldwide." .... oh, yeah !

biLL

Subject: RE: Thanks for mandarin oranges- Canada
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 01 Jan 07 - 04:05 PM

We got some mandarins in summer this year (oops! 2006). They could be the 'Golden Nugget,' a late ripening cultivar, which is discussed at the second site I mentioned.

Subject: RE: Thanks for mandarin oranges- Canada
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 01 Jan 07 - 04:00 PM

If the 'honey mandarin' was U. S. grown, they probably are the variety described here:
http://ccpp.ucr.edu/variety/133.html

Also see www.davewilson.com/homegrown/gardencompass/gc12_jan_feb_03.html

These are normal cultivars; no 'genetic engineering.'

Subject: RE: Thanks for mandarin oranges- Canada
From: dianavan
Date: 01 Jan 07 - 02:39 PM

Thanks for the links. Very informative.

When most people discuss GMO's, they are talking about "products of modern biotechnology, involving Genetic Engineering (GE)." Of course we have been hybridizing food for centuries but this is an entirely different 'ball of wax'.

I can't seem to find any info about mini honey mandarin oranges. I'm still wondering about their origins.

Subject: RE: Thanks for mandarin oranges- Canada
From: Metchosin
Date: 31 Dec 06 - 02:39 PM

I think this might help some with understanding my previous statement:

BIOTECHNOLOGY

If genetic modification has never taken place, not only naturally but also with with human intervention, you could kiss your Corgi's goodbye, deny the occurence of mutations and all the underpinnings of modern biology and start agreeing with the creationists.

We humans have been dicking with nature for a very long time in our history as a species, but only in a blink of an eye in nature's own time scale. Even cultivated rice, as it is now, could not even grow and survive without human intervention....and that has relatively little to do with Monsanto and humans fiddling in a lab with alien genes.

Subject: RE: Thanks for mandarin oranges- Canada
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 31 Dec 06 - 02:08 PM

There are several types of mandarin oranges grown in China and the rest of the world, differing in size, taste, and color (some are largely green when fully ripe).
All are the species Citrus reticulata. The main types-

1. Mandarin- many cultivars, several cultivars grown in U. S. A. and more around the world.
2. Tangerine- includes Clementine, Ponkan, etc.
3. Satsuma- originated in Japan, and their exported type. Several commercial cultivars.

Dianavan, this explains the differences that you note. Most originated through selection and cross-breeding, some centuries ago.

http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/morton/mandarin_orange.html

Subject: RE: Thanks for mandarin oranges- Canada
From: Sorcha
Date: 31 Dec 06 - 01:44 PM

Yes, and plants OR animals can hybridize all on their own.

Subject: RE: Thanks for mandarin oranges- Canada
From: dianavan
Date: 31 Dec 06 - 01:43 PM

From what I understand, hybridization does not necessarily involve genetic or chromosomal manipulation but is a traditional way of improving quality and quantity through selective breeding.

Subject: RE: Thanks for mandarin oranges- Canada
From: number 6
Date: 31 Dec 06 - 11:28 AM

What's the gifference ...

Think of a mule with hybridization

Think of the Island of Dr. Moreau with genetic modification.

biLL

Subject: RE: Thanks for mandarin oranges- Canada
From: dianavan
Date: 31 Dec 06 - 04:08 AM

I think there is a difference between hybridization and genetic modification.

Can someone please explain it?

Subject: RE: Thanks for mandarin oranges- Canada
From: bobad
Date: 30 Dec 06 - 11:01 PM

We are all genetically modified organisms.

Subject: RE: Thanks for mandarin oranges- Canada
From: Sorcha
Date: 30 Dec 06 - 08:10 PM

I figure I'll die of something and it probably won't be GM food.

Subject: RE: Thanks for mandarin oranges- Canada
From: dianavan
Date: 30 Dec 06 - 07:43 PM

I have no reason to believe that "almost all plants for human consumption have been genetically modified." Do you really believe that? It may be true for processed foods but when I'm shopping for fresh produce, I do not want fruits and vegetables that are GMO. I think I'll stick to the organic Mandarins.

I understand that in the States, its now O.K. to sell GM meat, too. At what point will consumers demand to know which is which?

'Four countries represent 99% of total GM surface in 2001: United States (68%), Argentina (22%), Canada (6%) and China (3%). It is estimated that 70% of products on U.S. grocery shelves include GM-derived ingredients. In particular, Bt corn, which produces the pesticide within the plant itself is widely grown, as are soybeans genetically designed to tolerate glyphosate herbicides. These constitute "input-traits" that financially benefit the producers, yet have only indirect environmental and marginal cost benefits to consumers.'

"...The Grocery Manufacturers of America estimate that 75% of all processed foods in the U.S. contain a GM ingredients"

Subject: RE: Thanks for mandarin oranges- Canada
From: Metchosin
Date: 30 Dec 06 - 04:16 PM

heric, we've got the same problem with our lumber.

Almost all plants for human consumption have been genetically modified, dianavan. However, I think the mini mandarins have been around for a long time in China and probably don't contain salamander genes.

Subject: RE: Thanks for mandarin oranges- Canada
From: GUEST, heric
Date: 30 Dec 06 - 04:14 PM

Now daydreaming about an import business . . Cal to Cal. . . . Tax deductible trips to Placer county. I could sell all these outside the Ducks games, easily.

Subject: RE: Thanks for mandarin oranges- Canada
From: GUEST,heric
Date: 30 Dec 06 - 03:50 PM

I miss mandarins so much, and they are almost never available in San Diego. So your festival, Joe, amazes me. It reminds me of a peculiar and annoying thing: The fruits available in Vancouver are of superior quality to the supermarket fruits in So Cal. And yet they come from California! It's not right.

Subject: RE: Thanks for mandarin oranges- Canada
From: Sorcha
Date: 30 Dec 06 - 03:39 PM

The Minneola tangelos have arrived!!!! YEA!

Subject: RE: Thanks for mandarin oranges- Canada
From: dianavan
Date: 30 Dec 06 - 03:29 PM

Do you think they were GMO?

Subject: RE: Thanks for mandarin oranges- Canada
From: Metchosin
Date: 30 Dec 06 - 03:10 PM

Perhaps you got a bad batch, dianavan. I got a small mesh bag of the mini mandarins and I haven't had mandarins like that in years. Wow! Flavourful and sweet and juicy.

Subject: RE: Thanks for mandarin oranges- Canada
From: dianavan
Date: 30 Dec 06 - 03:01 PM

Well, they just couldn't leave a good thing alone!

I just bought a tiny box of mini-mandarins because they were 'cute'.

When my daughter saw them, she reminded me that they were probably a GMO (genetically modified organism).

They are a little bigger than a walnut and very tangy. Not at all like 'real' mandarins. A small box cost $2.99 while a larger box of the organic, 'real' mandarins sold for $4.99.

I think I'll stick to the organic mandarins. They taste way better.

Subject: RE: Thanks for mandarin oranges- Canada
From: number 6
Date: 30 Dec 06 - 09:53 AM

Mandarin oranges arrived here at the local Sobey's.

Excellent oranges, much superior to the Clementines .... yes, thank you China .... for these superb oranges and for green tea and dim sum.

biLL

Subject: RE: Thanks for mandarin oranges- Canada
From: Bob the Postman
Date: 19 Nov 06 - 08:32 AM

In my university residence there ws a Chinese guy who could peel an orange in one piece so that the peel looked like a little man performing the conjugal act with the orange, his conjugal actor being the bit of white inner peel stuff that passes down the centre of the orange.

Subject: RE: Thanks for mandarin oranges- Canada
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 18 Nov 06 - 02:44 PM

We use naval oranges during the greater part of the year when mandarins are not available here.
Mandarins are much more consistent than they were years ago; no poor ones for the last three or so years.
I remember when I was young that the navals were seedy and sometimes poor in flavor, but quality now seems uniformly good.

About once a year, some stores get the Sevilles, which we used to use to make marmalade. We are too lazy now, and use the good marmalade from Scotland.

Subject: RE: Thanks for mandarin oranges- Canada
From: dianavan
Date: 18 Nov 06 - 02:03 AM

Good thread, Q. -

When I was a kid in Seattle, my dad (a world war vet who fought in the Pacific) would not allow us to buy anything Japanese. His fear was that once they became economically strong again, they would engage us in war. At Christmas, however, my mom was allowed to buy us a box of Japanese oranges. Thus it became traditional.

They were so easy to peel! I loved the way the frilly membrame clung to the fruit. I liked the way they fell into segments alsmost by themselves and the fruit was so sweet and juicy!

In Canada, Mandarin oranges are more common but, once in awhile I score a box of Japs. The problem with Mandarins is that they are a bit 'hit and miss'. Sometimes they are sweet and sometimes not. Sometimes they are hard to peel because of their thin skin.

I have also grown to appreciate the California navel. If it is in season and organically grown, I would choose the navel orange over a Mandarin or a Jap.

Good writing, Cat.

Chestnuts - I don't care about, however, a friend from Montreal made a sweetened chestnut paste that was much better than the chestnut alone. We rolled it and dipped it in chocolate and yum - yum!

Subject: RE: Thanks for mandarin oranges- Canada
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 17 Nov 06 - 09:57 PM

At this time, we are also enjoying the Medjool dates from California; they should be with us much of the winter.
These candy-sweet dates came from Morocco; I understand that Morocco gave 11 seedlings to the United States in 1920 when disease was threatening the native crop.
These palms are attractive and imposing. They may grow to 70 feet, and some I saw in California, near Mecca, must have been near that height.
A breeder says they grow from zone 8a to zone 11, and are being planted in the southern states. Out of curiosity, I planted one in my greenhouse several years ago, but I had to get rid of it before it took off the roof. A fairly fast grower, and it harbors bugs under greenhouse conditions (mine anyway).

http://www.datepalm.com/palminfo/singlemedjool.asp
Phoenix dactylifera

Subject: RE: Thanks for mandarin oranges- Canada
From: Joe Offer
Date: 17 Nov 06 - 08:18 PM

In the Sierra Foothills, we're at the peak of the mandarin season right now, and the 13th Annual Mountain Mandarin Festival is being held this very weekend, November 18 & 19, 2006, at the fairgrounds in Auburn, California - 45 minutes northeast of downtown Sacramento.
-Joe-

Subject: RE: Thanks for mandarin oranges- Canada
From: Les from Hull
Date: 17 Nov 06 - 06:08 PM

Roast chestnuts in the UK are fine - are you getting something different over there? True, you can get an occasional bad one - they're a bit discoloured when you peel them. They need salt, though. And they form part of many people's traditional Christmas dinner, either boiled or in incorporated into the stuffing.

Mandarins are what we call they small seedless kind of tangerine. They are much easier to handle than tangerines but not so strong on flavour. When we were in Thailand and bought fresh orange juice we found it to be from clementines. Oranges to us means navels or things of a similar size.

My favourite citrus has got to be the pomelo. We got a taste for them in Thailand and sometimes buy one from the Chinese supermarket, although they are much more expensive over here.

Subject: RE: Thanks for mandarin oranges- Canada
From: RangerSteve
Date: 17 Nov 06 - 05:47 PM

After reading this thread, I almost bought some clementines today, then I remembered that they're excluded from my diet, as are all orange related fruit, as they're high in phosphorus, and that's bad for people with no functioning kidneys. Damn. I'm glad for the rest of you, however.

ANd I agree with Spaw. The chestnut sellers were all over New York City when I was a kid. They had real charcoal roasters back then, and I think it was the smell of the charcoal burning, rather than the nuts that attracted me, but my Dad would never buy them. I later learned that he was right, they just aren't that good. The taste is okay, but they're kind of dry and have a kind of unpleasant feel in my mouth.

Steve

Subject: RE: Thanks for mandarin oranges- Canada
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 17 Nov 06 - 10:10 AM

We buy a box of the Clementines in time for Thanksgiving every year, and then eat them as fast as we can because they don't seem to last for very long. It seems that in conjunction with the Thankgiving holiday we have stray cats drift in, and our two both arrived during the holiday week in different years past. Our youngest cat was a tiny one, only 5 pounds, and we thought this little calico was a kitten. The vet said she was full grown. She was so small we named her Clementine.

Once she was fixed she ballooned out and is now the size of a huge grapefruit. . .

Subject: RE: Thanks for mandarin oranges- Canada
From: Helen
Date: 17 Nov 06 - 09:45 AM

Mandarins are usually sweeter if a frost hits them just before they ripen. I had a mandarin tree at my previous house. Yum!

And chestnuts! I treat myself to a small bag every year when the price is not too high. I boil them and smother them with butter and a little salt, and the nut is soft-textured with a mild flavour which is hard to describe.

If you get one that is rotten it smells - & probably tastes - foul, though. If it is rotten the inner nut is dark in colour.

Helen

Subject: RE: Thanks for mandarin oranges- Canada
From: MMario
Date: 17 Nov 06 - 09:11 AM

'spaw - I am disappointed in you! Roasted chestnuts are fantastic! I wonder is perhaps the vendor was roasting buckeyes? (Which do taste disgusting) but a roasted chestnut is fantastic. and they make excellent hand-warmers as well!

Properly roasted a chestnut is soft with just a little "chew" to it, the flavour is nutty but not overwhelming - sort of halfway between walnut and mushroom.

Subject: RE: Thanks for mandarin oranges- Canada
From: Mo the caller
Date: 17 Nov 06 - 09:05 AM

It was always Grandad's job to sit by his fire roasting, peeling and passing round the chestnuts. (grandma and her daughters did the 'womans work' in the kitchen.) I don't think Grandad ever got many himself, he was too busy.
Tangerines always had a Christmas feel to them.

Subject: RE: Thanks for mandarin oranges- Canada
From: number 6
Date: 17 Nov 06 - 08:58 AM

Those wooden boxes make great kindling for your fireplace or wood stove ... another warming thought (and long ago memories) at this time of year.

biLL

Subject: RE: Thanks for mandarin oranges- Canada
From: JennyO
Date: 17 Nov 06 - 01:45 AM

Thanks Spaw, you've saved me from ever being tempted to try roasted chestnuts. Now prime rib....I'm with you on that.

We get mandarins here in Oz in the winter months. I prefer the little ones, but for some reason most of them this year were big with tougher skins.

Meanwhile, because we are upside down here, our mandarin season is over, and we are getting some of the yummy tropical fruit, although at the beginning of the season the quality is not as good and the prices are high. We're just starting to get better ones now - mangoes, peaches, nectarines - love 'em all. I bought some white flesh peaches yesterday and the first two mangoes of the season today. I can't wait!

Subject: RE: Thanks for mandarin oranges- Canada
From: number 6
Date: 16 Nov 06 - 10:23 PM

"The trick is to remove the skin in one piece, with no punctures to the segments."

Always was a challenge for me.

biLL

Subject: RE: Thanks for mandarin oranges- Canada
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 16 Nov 06 - 10:18 PM

Clementines from Morocco, like the Mandarins from Arizona, sometimes come to western Canada, but seldom. The clementines are juicy, but seeds are common. The Chinese and Japanese are almost seedless; I remember seeds were more common back in the 1950's-1960's.

I don't know when the word 'zipperskin' appeared. The trick is to remove the skin in one piece, with no punctures to the segments.

Subject: RE: Thanks for mandarin oranges- Canada
From: catspaw49
Date: 16 Nov 06 - 10:17 PM

Mandarin oranges huh? By the time you peel the suckers there just ain't much there.....is there? Anyway, for me they are one of those traditions and delicacies that I have failed to get into fully. It's like the Chestnuts......You know, the ones of song and story, roasting on an open fire.

Do you like roasted chestnuts? I had always had a romantic idea of them.....you know, "Chestnuts roasting on an open fire" and all that. Oddly, although my family was very big on Christmas and wintery traditions, we never did the chestnut thing that I recall.
So a few years ago, we're at the Columbus Zoo for the Christmas Lights. They put up 2 million lights at the zoo here and it's become a tradition for us to go every year with Connie and Wayne and all the kids. The zoo is also very different at night and you get some neat views of the animals. Anyway, on the way out, over by the open skating rink is a chestnut stand. They're roasting the things and selling them on the spot for a healthy price, but I figure what the hell, again being a romantic....and it was a very cold and beautiful night. Wouldn't this be wonderful?

I pay the gouger his price and walk away with my chestnuts, excited to surprise everyone. We get to the van and I pass out the nuts to one and all. Wayne prepares mine since I'm driving and everyone begins to chew. I pop the thing into my mouth, expecting something like a hot brazil/filbert combo or something like that, and ready to wax poetic about Christmas and traditions and family. Before my taste buds kick into gear, there are already noises coming from the rear of the van and Wayne in the front.....and they don't sound like yummy noises.

The flavor traversed the nerve endings and a series of synapses later registered in my brain. I heard another non-yummy sound and realized that I had joined the chorus. The texture was pretty bad, but the flavor was, uh, well......hmmmm......uh, let's say worse! Now I have never tasted dog shit and I wouldn't taste it even for comparison purposes, but up in that part of my brain where the imagination lives, that chestnut registered as comparable to dog shit. Obviously I was not alone as there seemed to be a clamoring for napkins and a lot of gagging and spitting, sounds going on around me. I had a feeling my upholstery and the cut pile carpeting was taking a beating too. For me, I pulled the van out of the line of exiting traffic and began hacking on the side of the road.

All of this also mandated that we pull in down the road for drinks. I figure the guy with the chestnut stand also owned the conveniently located Shoot & Scoot where we were equally gouged for drinks, some of which also found their way onto the van's seats and floor. I figure by the time it was all over I had spent about five bucks a nut. We did try them again the next year though, figuring that perhaps we'd gotten a bad batch or something but this time only Wayne and I had the guts (read:stupidity) to sample them. I'm sorry to report that my reaction was the same.....chestnut=dogshit.

Keep the silly little oranges, I'll use the canned ones in that weird marshmallow salad thing. And just fuck a whole bunch of roasted chestnuts. I'm going to stick with some better traditions, even if I make them up myself. I'm thinking perhaps prime rib, very rare............

Spaw

Subject: RE: Thanks for mandarin oranges- Canada
From: number 6
Date: 16 Nov 06 - 09:48 PM

Clementines (oranges) ... in wooden small boxes from Morocco ... those are just arriving in the stores here now.

biLL

Subject: RE: Thanks for mandarin oranges- Canada
From: bobad
Date: 16 Nov 06 - 09:40 PM

When is the peak of mandarin season there Joe?

We never see California mandarins sold where I live but I must say the best oranges we get here (IMO) are California navels and I await their arrival with much anticipation.

Subject: RE: Thanks for mandarin oranges- Canada
From: Joe Offer
Date: 16 Nov 06 - 09:35 PM

We claim mandarins as our own here in Placer County, California (northeast of Sacramento in the Sierra Foothills). I believe they were introduced here by Japanese farmers before World War II, and many of the farmers returned here after the war. We have a manadarin festival at the county seat, Auburn, at the peak of mandarin harvest.
They're darn tasty little things, they are.
-Joe-

Subject: RE: Thanks for mandarin oranges- Canada
From: number 6
Date: 16 Nov 06 - 09:32 PM

"zipperskins" ... I must admit I'm one Canuck who hasn't heard that description of these oranges.

The small ones in boxes we get at this time of year are from Morocco.

Yes ... they are one of those pleasant memorable delites that always are welcome in these dreary gray sky days of November.

biLL

Subject: RE: Thanks for mandarin oranges- Canada
From: Sorcha
Date: 16 Nov 06 - 09:27 PM

Smile....here, it's Minneola Tangelos in February. LOVE those things!