At certain times of the year, you can be surprised when a certain produce item you have been enjoying suddenly goes from amazing to mediocre. This can often happen when a crop grown in one region finishes and another starts up – which may be why your glass of fresh squeezed OJ could have recently gone from perfectly sweet and balanced to one that is tart and bland. If you love Valencia oranges, then now is the time for you to make sure you ask for old-crop California Valencia oranges, because they are full of juice and sweet as candy. If you buy the new crop – Mexican Valencias – you will most likely disappointed. It’s not that Mexican Valencias are bad – they just haven’t developed the sugar that the California orange has yet.

When you are buying your California Valencia’s look for oranges that have a smooth, finely textured skin and are firm and heavy for their size. This means they will be loaded with juicy goodness. If you notice a slight green tinge on your Valencia’s skin, don’t be concerned. It just means they were allowed to remain on the tree during warmer weather and their skin re-absorbs chlorophyll from the leaves and will turn slightly green again, beginning at the stem end. The fruit is actually fully ripe, sweet, juicy and bright orange inside.

Here are couple of quick tips to get the most from these before they go away.
Normally, Valencia oranges will keep at room temperature for up to 1 week and in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks. However, these are so full of sugar they won’t hold up long outside the fridge, so I suggest you keep them cool until you are ready to use them. When you are ready for some fresh juice, let them warm up, then roll the fruit on a firm surface to soften the flesh – then start squeezing! If you are trying decide how much to buy, two to four medium oranges will produce about one cup of juice.

Enjoy them while they last, which won’t be long.

Posted in "For the Love of Produce" by MM, Blog |