We're back to another fruit hybrid. As I mentioned in a post about pummelos on February 20, 2014, botanical scientists have determined that there were four original citrus fruits--pummelos, citrons, mandarin oranges, and papedas. The other modern citrus fruits are various combinations of these progenitors.
The focus of today's post is yet another one of these. Sweetie citrus are a hybrid of pummelos and grapefruit. Since grapefruit itself is a child of pummelo and the sweet orange, we're getting into some "fruit incest," as it were. And, like the cliche jokes about inbreeding, the result was kind of horrendous. This was not a useful mutant like an X-Man, either.
Sizewise, the sweetie citrus is about what you'd expect, given its parentage. It's smaller than a typical pummelo, but larger than an average grapefruit. Its outer skin is a yellowish-green color. As you peel it away there's a bit of a surprise. The inner rind, beneath the skin but surrounding the pulp, is extremely thick, and almost like a whitish fur. Probably a third to a half of the initial fruit's diameter is this inedible fluff. Once you finally get to it, the pulp is a dull yellow color, and is sectioned like a normal citrus fruit.
Well, suffice to say, "sweetie" citrus is a lie. This fruit is (in my non-humble opinion) unfortunately much closer to its nasty grapefruit parent than to its decent pummelo parent. Just completely bitter and awful. I was only able to choke down a few sections before I called it quits. My father was capable of finishing more of it, but even he noted that the aftertaste was quite unpleasantly bitter, and long lasting.
So, in conclusion, if you like grapefruit, you might like sweetie citrus. But if you don't, you'll probably hate this one, too. I'm convinced the name is a cruel marketing trick, reminiscent of the Vikings naming the milder climate island "Iceland," and the bitterly cold, extremely harsh environment island "Greenland" in order to deter and then encourage potential settlers.
No comments:
Post a Comment