[Sca-cooks] Citrus Question [was Funges Follies]

[Harris Mark.S-rsve60]

Serena da Riva asked:
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Also, what would be the best oranges to use & why? Because of a discussion
that occured on this very list I used blood oranges for both dishes. Are
they sour enough? Should I add lemon? Should I use a different orange? Is
there any commercially available pre-squozed juice that would be a good
substitute? (I do not relish the idea of squozing all of those oranges).
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Perhaps some of the comments in this file in the FOOD-FRUITS
section of the Florilegium might help answer some of your
questions:
fruit-citrus-msg  (45K)  3/26/01    Period citrus fruits. Recipes.


Here are a pair of messages from this file, which indicated that
blood oranges may not be the best orange variety for this recipe.

Stefan li Rous

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Date: Tue, 7 Apr 1998 10:00:54 -0400
From: "Paul and Jillian Louis" <pocopup at email.msn.com>
Subject: Re: SC - Blood Oranges

I remember a bit of information about blood oranges from my teaching days,
unfortunately I do not have the sources from whence I picked this up,
Blood oranges were found by the crusaders on the island of Malta.  Hence the
name of the Hollandaise variante that uses their juice " Sauce Maltaise"
They have a dark red interior when they are ripe. if they are harvested too
imature, the juice is bitter. When allowed to ripen on the tree their juice
is sweeter than your average navel orange.
If you wish to work in with blood orange juice in large quantities there is
a good product on the market from Assoline and Ting.
hope this helps,
Olga
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Date: Tue, 7 Apr 1998 14:58:31 -0500
From: "Decker, Terry D." <TerryD at Health.State.OK.US>
Subject: RE: SC - Blood Oranges

> The orange used in medieval times was the Seville, or sour orange, which I
> believe is still available in Europe. I use the sour Valencias off my mom's
> tree to approximate the taste.
>
> Renata

According to ye olde quick ref, oranges originate in China and were
transplanted into India from there, then from India into the Middle East.
Seville oranges (Citrus aurantium) were introduced into Spain by the Moors
and from there into Europe.

The Portuguese introduced a variety of sweet oranges from Japan about 1529.
I suspect, but do not know, that these were C. reticulata, which include the
mandarine orange, the tangerine and the Satsuma varieties.

C. sinensis, which are sweeter still and include Navel and Valencia oranges,
were introduced to Europe about 1635.

Given those points, your Valencias may actually be Sevilles.

I've been trying to find Sevilles locally without much luck.  I wanted to
try my hand at making marmalade.

Bear
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