Harvest of the Month: Clementines
If the juicy and peelable clementine is a staple of your holiday season, thank a French monk and century of tradition.
The exact creation story varies from place to place, but all seem to agree that credit for the clementine goes to a Brother of the Annunciation named Clement who, while serving a monastery in Algiers in the early 20th century, crossed an orange and mandarin orange to create the fruit that his appreciative contemporaries dubbed “clementine.”
The new fruit apparently was a quick hit throughout Europe and Asia, displacing the mandarin as a favorite. The fact that the fruit tends to begin appearing in fresh markets in October or November has led to its being associated with the holidays, and some traditions suggest that it shows up in stockings and holiday decorations to represent the gold coins St. Nicholas distributed to the poor.
Regardless of its history, the little fruit packs a big punch. Store clementines in a cool place – but not the refrigerator – out of sunlight and they stay fresh for several weeks, delivering lots of vitamins and antioxidants, few calories and virtually no fat … which means we have even more reason for thanking Brother Clement.
Try November’s Recipe: Whole Clementine Cake
Tags: Clementine, harvest of the month, Winter recipe