With Love, From China

I was gifted a few bags of oranges over the weekend. Gifted if you consider that I only paid about a third of the price currently charged in local supermarkets. Add to this the fact that these oranges are monstrously large, fabulously juicy and super sweet and the deal is even more satisfying.

Oranges, together with figs, define my childhood more than any other fruit. It seems as if we only lived in houses with orange trees in the backyard. All my family and friends had orange trees too.

When mixed with a few cups of pure, undiluted nostalgia, grandpa’s navel oranges from Keetmanshoop were the best I ever tasted, and I remember with sincere fondness the smell of fresh oranges being peeled for us with his pocketknife.

He would always skin the entire orange in one go, twisting it in his hand, trying to keep the skin in one long curly piece. More often than not he would succeed and we would cheer and be happy whilst eating oranges.

Although in my small little world back then oranges came from Grandpa’s garden, the truth is that they originated many centuries ago, thousands of miles away in China.

It is a hybrid between pomelo (citrus maxima) and mandarin (citrus reticulate). The genetic ratio is about 25% pomelo and 75% mandarin.

When we speak about oranges we usually refer to ‘sweet’ oranges or citrus sinensis. It is the most planted fruit tree globally and accounts for more than 70% of all citrus produced. Brazil, China, India and the USA are the world’s largest orange producers.

All citrus trees belong to the single genus citrus and remain almost entirely interfertile. Included in this family are limes, lemons, pomelos, oranges and numerous hybrids.

One such hybrid is the ‘blood orange’ – deep, dark red flesh and rind. Its unique colour is due to high concentrations of anthocyanin.

Blood oranges are believed to be a natural mutation of ordinary sweet oranges that developed over time and generations. It is believed to have originated in Sicily, Italy from where they have spread throughout the world (including the very small and remote Namibian hamlet of Gochas from where my oranges originated).

All components of oranges can be utilised – the peel, the flesh, the pulp and the juice are all commonly culinary ingredients. The white pith has a bitter taste that helps give marmalade its bitter flavour. The orange oil extracted from the peel is used in food flavouring as well as for aromatherapy oils.

Over the next few days I’ll start to process my oranges. Some will be preserved with salt, others will be fermented in sugar to make cordial. And I will make orange curd and cook jam and marmalade. Juice will be extracted and used for sorbets and jellies.

I love cooking with citrus fruits and find much inspiration in the cuisine of the nations around the Mediterranean Sea and the Middle East.

This week’s recipe is a simple but delicious salad that combines the sweetness of beetroot with the sharpness of blood oranges and the saltiness of olives. To this base you could add whole grains, salty soft cheeses or bitter leafy vegetables. I see no reason why this could not be eaten as a starter or as part of a main dish.

It is up to you, really.

Bon appétit.

Ingredients

• 400 grams beetroots

• 2 blood oranges

• 1/2 small red onion, sliced thinly

• 3 tablespoons parsley, chopped finely

• 40 grams black olives, pitted

• 3 tablespoons olive oil

• 1 teaspoon orange blossom water

• 1 1/2 tablespoons red wine vinegar

1. Place the beetroots in a pot with cold water and bring to the boil. Cook until the beetroots are tender.

(This could take one to two hours depending on the size of the beetroots.) Leave the beetroots to cool in the

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