Oranges are not the only fruit ... try kumquats, yuzu and a host of other tangs

When life gives you pithy cedro lemons and sweet Tacle mandarins, what exactly do you make with them?

- Joel Hart

British chefs and home cooks are increasingly embracing new and unusual varieties of citrus in recipes, with supermarkets and greengrocers offering a rising number of speciality fruits. Retailers like M&S now offer punnets of kumquats, while Waitrose has reported a 27% rise in sales of yuzu juice.

Riverford, which offers boxes of organic produce for home delivery, has noticed a similar trend. The company has seen steady sales of kumquats, with sub-varieties and hybrids like Tacle mandarins (a cross between a clementine and a Tarocco orange) and Ruby Valencias (which have the sweetness of orange but the flavour of grapefruit) performing especially well.

"It's generally unknown just how much variety there is in shape, size, flavour, and use of citrus," said Dale Robinson at Riverford. "When consumers see that, they want to try it."

Emilie Wolfman, trend innovation manager at Waitrose, said unusual types of citrus were seeing a boom in popularity and the supermarket has seen an increase in recipe searches for premium fruits like Sorrento lemons, blood oranges and red grapefruit. "Chefs and home cooks alike are embracing its year-round versatility," she said.