Citrus
The most acidic of fruits, citrus is packed with all sorts of deliciously tangy and zesty flavors (and lots of good-for-us stuff too)!
All types of citrus fruits are hybrids from the original 3 (mandarins, citrons, and pomelos) and now there’s over thousands of different varieties!
These include lemons, limes, grapefruits, tangerines, kumquats, key limes, clementine’s, grapefruit, blood oranges, Meyer lemons, tangelos, yuzu and more!
Citrus flavors range from sweet to tart to bitter to sour. They can be interchanged in a pinch, just take note of flavor differences and modify accordingly.
Acid is indispensable to everything we cook and balances our food. Citrus does wonders for balancing the sweet, the salty, the starchy, the rich and making our food really pop!
This site is an equal citrus opportunity blog. All fresh citrus’ varieties are welcome! Bottle citrus juice, made from concentrate and doctored with preservatives and oils, is not. It’s lacks that bright, just squeezed juice flavor and we miss out on the zest.
Pro Tip: citrus zest is just as valuable as citrus juice!!!
Let’s chat the type citrus this blog celebrates above all others: blood oranges!
Reason: their dreamy deep red flesh color! Their sweet-tart flavor paired with their brilliantly dark pink, maroon, or dark blood red color unequivocally helps us get through the darkest of winters days and for that we are wholeheartedly grateful!
Season: year round (though not all varieties).
Prep: Raw, juiced, roasted, grilled, poached, braised.