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Tangerine
Citrus tangerina · Citrus
40 pairings
The tangerine is the classic deep-orange, tart-sweet mandarin — the reddish-skinned, zingy easy-peel citrus of Dancy, Sunburst and honey (murcott) types. A commercial and culinary sub-group of the mandarin (Citrus reticulata), it is set apart by its darker, more orange-red rind and its brighter, more acidic bite than a mild clementine or satsuma. It is the fruit that gave its name to the whole loose-skinned tribe in the English-speaking world, having first reached the West through the Moroccan port of Tangier.
Picking a good onedrag
Heavy, taut, deep red-orangePuffy, light, papery inside
Shop firmSnacking, segments in a salad, zest for a cake or a marinade.Everyday best
Weight in handSolid, the rind just shifting on the flesh
RindOrange and taut, a green cast at the shoulder
The buttonButton gone, the scar dry and flat
Scratched peelFragrant when rubbed, warmer and softer
What to look for, from heavy, taut, deep red-orange to puffy, light, papery inside.
What one gives you
74%
Usable yield
88 g · peel and pips out
119 g
Typical weight
one specimen
Keeping ittap a band
Its own store is 5-8 °C: below that the peel pits and browns and decay follows, and it often shows only once the fruit is back on the counter.
Humidity
90–95%
The thin rind gives up water fast: dry air sinks it around the button first, then the whole fruit goes light.
Airflow
Vented, not sealed
A slit bag or an open bowl; sealed in plastic the peel sweats and blue mould starts at any bruise.
Hurries the rot, never the ripening
It gives off almost none itself, but ethylene from apples and bananas hurries stem-end rot and decay, and it never sweetens off the tree.