The Anatomy of a Tangelo

I’ve always loved tangelos, bigger and juicier than regular tangerines, we would ‘import’ them to Warri and Port Harcourt whenever family came from Lagos and Ore in the west of the country.

I always thought they were a cross between oranges and tangerines, I didn’t know till a few weeks ago that they are actually birthed by oranges and pomelos/ grapefruits.

The Anatomy

Tangelos are larger than tangerines, and are roughly the size of a small orange though I’ve seen some the size of small grapefruits. Apparently, some describe them as being the size of an adult fist.

They tend to have a nipple/ ‘neck’ where fruit meets stem.

The Skin

The skin is loose and thinner than those of oranges and grapefruits. I find them quite easy to peel. My children struggle though so I ask them to turn it on its head and peel from the bottom by digging into the centre and going on from there

The segments are rather ‘stringy’…but juicy. In this particular tangelo, there were 9 segments.

I love how thick the pulp is, I want to open many segments up, get rid of the seeds and pile them on some cheesecake.

Some of the segments are seedless, some have 1, 2, 3, 4 seeds. At least in this tangelo.

I’m going to explore with them.

I’ve made preserved tangelos already, a cocktail and a ‘sorbet‘ with soursop. More to come xxx

[wpurp-searchable-recipe]The Anatomy of a Tangelo – – – [/wpurp-searchable-recipe]