The Most Wonderful Time of the Year
November 19th, 2006
No, not Christmas. Not that Christmas doesn’t have its merits. But my main reason for looking forward to Christmas is the annual Japanese Mandarin Madness. One year I failed to ration and went through a five-pound box–by myself–in less than four days.
The Chinese Mandarin oranges have been available for a few weeks, but I find the Japanese worth the wait and additional price. They’re eaiser to peel, 99% seedless and 250% better tasting (yes, those are clinically proven quantities). If I can’t find Japanese, I’ll resort to Korean (bigger but not as intense orange-y flavour), and after that I’ll go without. But I’ll stuff my face with Japanese Mandarins given the chance.
Laura once told me her mom told her she would get “orange peel skin” if she ate too many Mandarins. And my mom told me a story about getting caught with orange fingernails by my grandmother after being told not to eat any more oranges. But a pound-a-day habit and my skin isn’t any more bumpy, and no one’s checking my fingernails, so these days Christmas wouldn’t be Christmas without me getting sick at least once on Japanese Mandarins. Go and get yourself a box. They’re high in fibre and vitamin C. And their wrappers are 100% biodegradable. And if you save the peels and dry them out, you can add them to a hot bath a few weeks down the road (tie them in a rag first if you don’t like the floaty bits), breathe in some orange-y aroma goodness and relive some Mandarin memories when the season’s over.
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