Navel Oranges

Plant Parenthood

Sweet on Onions

Spud fans, dig this!

Kiwi Kraze

Navel Oranges

by Guido the Gardener

Usher the youngins' out of the room, for our subject today is rated NC 17 ... navels! But not the innie or outie variety, more like navels as in oranges!
    A couple of weeks ago, the mandarins, a classy kin to navels occupied this space. And blood oranges with the scarlet colored juice will soon have their place in the Profile as well. But for consistent flavor, a flood of supply, and an affordable price tag, it's hard to beat your Johnny Lunchbucket, pebbly skinned, navel orange as your citrus selection.
    Navel oranges, so named for their "belly button" at the blossom end, originated like most other citrus, from southeast Asia. From there, this fruit hitchhiked across northern Africa and settled in Europe, most notably Spain. (They happen to be the third largest orange producer in el mundo.)
    Evidence of such meanderings are found in the names of various citrus. The tangerine is named after the Morrocan city of Tangier, located on the African side of the Strait of Gibraltar. Valencia oranges picked up their name from the same named city on the eastern Spanish coast. And it's a good bet that the Lisbon variety of lemon came from Portugal.
    From Europe, early explorers, including Christopher Columbus, introduced them to North and South America. They took a major hankerin' to the climate of Brazil and eventually made them THE main squeeze in orange production.
    The navel was introduced to U.S. shores from trees that were shipped from Brazil to the Department of Agriculture in Washington D.C. in the mid-1800's. And it just so happens that the most common variety of navel orange happens to be named ... Washington!
    The majority of the country's Washington navels are grown here in California where they get the right combination of cold winter and warm summer temperatures. Florida, on the other hand, is the home of over 70% of the total U.S. crop and most of that is in the form of juicing or processing oranges. All of this vitamin C from the tree goes to make the United States the number two orange grower in the world.
    Navel oranges differ from their more prolific cousins, Valencias and others, in that they are more suited to eating fresh out of hand as opposed to juicing. Navel orange juice does this funny separation trick and can turn bitter rather quickly. Navels also have much thicker skins which make them no sweat to peel. Juicing style oranges are thin skinned and need knife assistance for entry.
    The best way to pick a flavorful orange is to use your mouth, as in tasting it. They are very easy for retail produce folks to "sample out". All you have to do is ask. Short of that, bounce a couple in your hand and pick the ones that feel heavy for their size. It is the juice that gives an orange its heft, and its flavor.
    The season runs a long time, from November for the early varieties and well into spring. As production now is really starting to roll, it brings larger and tastier fruit.
    For those who fancy organically grown fruit, navels are well represented with various growers providing excellent quality and flavor.

Copyright © 1996 Mark Ferro
All Rights Reserved

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