Tangerine Dreams

Get your hands on the world’s most glorious citrus— before it’s too late.

- Ruth Reichl

 “You need to taste these,” read the note. I opened the box that had just arrived from Alice Waters to find it filled with the tiniest tangerines I had ever seen.

The fruit’s scent engulfed me. It was slightly spicy and so seductive I couldn’t resist picking one up. It snuggled into my hand, no larger than a golf ball, and it perfumed my skin.Ruth Reichl The rind was so thin the tangerine practically peeled itself, sending another tropical aroma into the air. I placed a juicy triangle on my tongue and an intense flavor shot through my body, powerful enough to make me forget the snow swirling outside the window.

You need to taste them too.

When kishus were first discovered, almost 1,300 years ago in a forest in southern China, the wild fruits were considered so delicious they were immediately sent to the emperor. He liked them so much he decided they were far too fine for ordinary people and began cultivating them for his own use. For the next thousand years his imperial descendants kept the trees alive by grafting them from one year to the next (the fruit is seedless).