Tangerine

Selection Information

Usage: Best eaten out-of-hand. Also used in salads, desserts and in main dishes.

Selection: Good-quality tangerines will be firm to slightly soft, heavy for their size and pebbly-skinned with no deep grooves. The coloring will be deep orange to almost red.

Avoid: Avoid product with soft spots, spots of slight brown discoloring or dull and faded coloring overall.

Seasonal Information

Fairchild and Algerian varieties are available November and December, while the Dancy variety is available in December and January.

Tangerine Tips & Trivia

There are many types of citrus that have traditionally been sold as "tangerines", but most retailers now use the proper name for each variety. The primary varieties are:

Tangerines - Pebbly-skinned and traditional around Christmas time, they are often sold with the stem and leaf attached. Tangerines are fairly easy to peel and have seeds. The flavor is sweet to tart-sweet. Major varieties are Fairchild, Algerian and Dancy.

Mandarins - Kinnows are the most common of the mandarin varieties. They have a mildly sweet flavor with smooth skin, a light orange color and few seeds. The Satsuma Mandarin is very popular in that it is almost entirely seedless, easy to peel and very sweet.

Royal Mandarins - Also called Temples, these "tangors" are a cross between a tangerine and an orange. They are similar in taste to an orange and tend to be rather large.

Tangelos - Orlando and minneolas are the two major types of tangelos. This cross between a tangerine and a grapefruit is most easily recognized by the large knob on the stem end. Tangelos have a very juicy tart-sweet flavor and deep orange coloring.

Tangerine

Selection Information

Seasonal Information

Tangerine Tips & Trivia

Suggested Reading About Citrus Fruits from Amazon.com: