Two reasons for choosing the orange to Dietribe upon this week: one, it’s something bright to lighten up the winter doldrums, and two, as a reminder of how to fight some of those nasty winter-related colds and ills. Ladies and gentlemen, may I introduce to you … the orange!
• Oranges, natives of Southeast Asia, were first introduced to the Americas on Christopher Columbus’ second voyage. Working their way up the West Coast of the United States, oranges were one of the first shipments to leave Los Angeles on the transcontinental railroad in 1886. Thanks in part to orange cultivation, the population of Los Angeles went from 11,183 to half a million by 1920. Of course by then the orange growers had been pushed to the suburbs … known as Orange County!
• Though California continues to produce oranges, nowadays 90% of the orange juice in the US comes from Florida. World-wide, Brazil is actually the leading producer of this delectable citrus.
• The word “orange” has a rich etymological history, and is probably most infamous for not having another English rhyming word. According to this obviously reliable source, US Naval Commander Henry Honychurch Gorringe, the captain of the USS Gettysburg who discovered Gorringe Ridge in 1875, led Arthur Guiterman to quip in “Local Note”:
In Sparkill buried lies that man of mark
Who brought the Obelisk to Central Park,
Redoubtable Commander H.H. Gorringe,
Whose name supplies the long-sought rhyme for “orange.”
• Speaking of ships, oranges can also help in preventing and overcoming scurvy, as discovered by James Lind in the mid-1700s. There are other ways to treat scurvy as well. Bottom line: keep up with your vitamin C consumption!
• Oranges have plenty of uses besides being a refreshing snack and a lovely morning beverage drink. They’ve been used to make plastic, power up ipods (er…maybe), and are useful slug repellents. They also make for nifty mascots, beating out mightier suggestions like wolves or lions. Vive les oranges!
• Because every day draws us closer to inevitable Robot Revolution, orange growers have invested in technology to create orange-harvesting robots. What will future robots do with oranges they can’t eat? Maybe they can throw them at one another.
• There are plenty of different types of oranges, including Navel (a particularly grafted mutation that are all clones of the original tree!), Valencia (sweet oranges used for juicing) and Blood Oranges. Fruit Detective David Karp says, on the subject of Blood Oranges, “Blood orange coloration is part science, part mystery. Cold winter nights alternating with mild days favor the development of anthocyanins, red pigments that impart a distinctive appearance and taste; shaded or partly exposed fruit, as on the north side of trees, tend to develop the darkest peels. Anthocyanins also color cherries, berries, beets and roses, indeed many plants. In young citrus leaves, the pigmentation protects delicate internal cells from sunlight, but in blood oranges it seems to be a superfluous response to climatic stress.” Yummy.
***
I do love oranges and drink orange juice every morning, but since this is clementine season I’ve been chowing down on those specifically. What about you guys? Favorite oranges? Favorite way to eat them? Disagreements against the fact that oranges are one of the most infuriating fruits to eat, and should never be consumed in mixed company?
Hungry for more? Venture into the Dietribes archive.
‘Dietribes’ appears every other Wednesday. Food photos taken by Johanna Beyenbach. You might remember that name from our post about her colorful diet.
Comments (19)
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Love those mandarin oranges. It’s a shame I can never find them fresh, only in a can or at a salad bar.
posted by Adrian W. on 1-14-2009 at 1:22 pm
No rhymes?!? What about “syringe”? Or “doorhinge”?
posted by Jon on 1-14-2009 at 1:25 pm
There is a Hill in Wales in the UK called Blorringe
posted by Parry on 1-14-2009 at 1:48 pm
mmmmm… I love blood oranges. I’ve been eating them like crazy this week.
Isn’t there an orange– exclusive to Florida– that you can only find 2 weeks out of the year? I only had it once, and don’t know what it’s called, but it was amazing and juicy. Anyone know what I’m talking about, or am I confused?
posted by Alisha on 1-14-2009 at 2:02 pm
Alisha, you may be thinking of the honeybell orange. They’re hybrids of grapefruits and tangerines. When I was younger, my family lived in Florida. There was a small produce market by our house, and we stocked up on those things in January. It was almost like Kramer and Newman going crazy about Mackinaw peaches on that episode of Seinfeld, but maybe not that intense.
posted by Sandy on 1-14-2009 at 2:28 pm
Really? “Syringe” and “doorhinge” rhyme with orange? Really?
posted by Jeff on 1-14-2009 at 2:29 pm
I love oranges and orange juice but can only have them every once in a while becaues they mess my Geographic tongue. It will swell up and i wont be able to taste anything for a while. :(
posted by Jennifer on 1-14-2009 at 2:35 pm
@ Jeff…. that is the EXACT same thing i said in my head while reading it. Thanks to SNL Weekend Update i have lost a few friends becaues of using that word. “Really?”
hehehe to funny!
posted by Jennifer on 1-14-2009 at 2:39 pm
I once had to eat an orange whole, peel and all, in Marine boot camp. It did not taste so good. Try it!
posted by Josiah on 1-14-2009 at 2:41 pm
i love eating navel oranges. i like to save the little bitty malformed navel slices to eat last.. they somehow always taste the best.
posted by drumnbasskitty on 1-14-2009 at 3:23 pm
When I was 4 I got REALLY angry and squeezed a tangerine as hard as I could because I couldn’t peel it. I used to bite my fingernails so I just couldn’t make it happen. The juice from the tangerine went DIRCTLY up my nose and burned SO BAD that I sneezed so hard I got a bloody nose ans hit my head on the kitchen counter. I went and had 15 stitches and had to have my septum cauterized. I’ll eat a clementine or a manderin, but until this day I can’t bring myself to eat a tangerine.
posted by Kate on 1-14-2009 at 4:13 pm
Okay, seriously. How did Kate not win the Darwin awards contest from a couple of days ago? Am I the only one laughing at that visual?
posted by Pete on 1-14-2009 at 5:16 pm
@Jennifer
The Florida variety that is only available for a short time is called Honeybell. My parents live near the Indian River in souther Florida where Honeybells come from. They are so yummy!
posted by redbeki on 1-14-2009 at 6:25 pm
I’m a big fan of satsumas, a type of mandarin orange, if I’m not mistaken. They have a great, sweet flavor and are very easy to peel. The ones from Louisiana are best!
posted by Lindsey on 1-14-2009 at 7:43 pm
I’ll second Pete on Kate’s potential Darwin award!!
posted by Christi on 1-14-2009 at 9:55 pm
I wrote about the “difficult to eat” issue in a blog post…search for “mediumcrazy oranges” :)
posted by Stephanie on 1-14-2009 at 11:10 pm
my favorite variety of orange would have to be otto the orange
GO SYRACUSE!
posted by Grace on 1-15-2009 at 12:34 am
I LOVE Satsuma’s. I am from Louisiana and have family that has several satsuma trees. They are the perfect citrus fruit…easy to peel, no seeds, juicy…DELICIOUS!!!
posted by Laurie on 1-15-2009 at 8:19 am
Pete & Christi:
I’m pretty sure you have to die in order to receive a Darwin award.
posted by Michelle on 1-15-2009 at 9:30 am