{"id":1831,"date":"2016-12-20T05:19:00","date_gmt":"2016-12-20T10:19:00","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2020-08-13T17:26:15","modified_gmt":"2020-08-13T21:26:15","slug":"have-yourself-very-mandarin-christmas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gardern.co.za\/2016\/12\/have-yourself-very-mandarin-christmas\/","title":{"rendered":"Have Yourself a Very Mandarin Christmas"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Mandarin oranges are a seasonal treat around the Holiday season but have you ever wondered why?<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n
(I apologize if you had tried to read this post earlier in the week, somehow I accidentally deleted it. I had to rewrite it but this time, I kept it much shorter.).<\/p>\n
Christmas time and Mandarin oranges – it’s a pairing that started long before there branded varieties marketed under catchy brand names such as ‘Cutie’s’ and ‘Halo’s’, even before there were clementines. the truth is that these sweet, easy-to-peel citrus have a far more interesting story than simple being seedless tangerines.<\/p>\n
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\nThose stories from your grandparents about getting an orange in their Christmas stocking and being thrilled about has some truth to it. They weren’t just telling tales. Of course, that lump of coal was something else.<\/p>\n
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\nMandarin oranges have a long history in Asia where their juicy sweetness brightened up the winter months, but across North America and Europe, the Mandarin changed how cold-weather folk thought about winter fruit.<\/p>\n
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It all began in the mid 1800’s when ships arriving from Japan and the Philippines brought crates of imported Mandarins into the ports on the west coast of the US.These crates of sweet Mandarins then traveled via train to the big East coast cities. So popular around Christmastime, that local papers from Toronto to New York City often announced their arrival with headlines like ”Japanese Oranges Arrive Just in Time For Christmas!’.<\/p>\n
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My father remembers as a four year old child in 1918 receiving sweet Mandarins in his Christmas stocking (his brothers once told me that he would hide them under his bed so that his other 7 brothers wouldn’t find them).<\/p>\n
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Trains were often painted promoting the arrival of the Mandarins. This began in the 1920’s but continued into the 1970’s as seen here.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n
Today, we are seeing a resurgence of Mandarin appreciation, with the introduction of new varieties, marketed under catchy brand names like ‘Cuties’ and Halo’s. The true Mandarin though is larger, and not unlike apples, encompass a whole group of named varieties which share the loose skin and easy-to-peel characteristics.<\/p>\n
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\nIn Japan, the choicest varieties are known as the ‘Satsuma’ type. But understanding the various classes of Mandarins is a skill few of us really need to know or master, but why not try to explain the various differences? It’s just what I like to do!<\/p>\n
Here are the several classes of Mandarin Oranges:<\/p>\n
Class I – Mandarin<\/b> (One class is actually called – Mandarin) \nThis class includes the varieties named ‘Changsa’, ‘Emperor’, ‘Oneco’ and ‘Willow-Leaf’ or China Mandarin’.<\/p>\n
Class II – Tangerines:<\/b> \nThis class includes: ‘Cleopatra’ , Ponki’, ‘Spice’, ‘Dancy’, ‘Ponkan’, ‘Sunburst’ (the Tangelo)<\/p>\n
Class II – Satsuma Orange:<\/b> Includes varieties of Satsuma such as ‘Owari’, Wase’, Kara’ and King Tangor. There are many hybrids as well.<\/p>\n