Have Yourself a Very Mandarin Christmas

Mandarin oranges are a seasonal treat around the Holiday season but have you ever wondered why?

(I apologize if you had tried to read this post earlier in the week, somehow I accidentally deleted it. I had to rewrite it but this time, I kept it much shorter.).

Christmas time and Mandarin oranges – it’s a pairing that started long before there branded varieties marketed under catchy brand names such as ‘Cutie’s’ and ‘Halo’s’, even before there were clementines. the truth is that these sweet, easy-to-peel citrus have a far more interesting story than simple being seedless tangerines.

Those stories from your grandparents about getting an orange in their Christmas stocking and being thrilled about has some truth to it. They weren’t just telling tales. Of course, that lump of coal was something else.

Mandarin oranges have a long history in Asia where their juicy sweetness brightened up the winter months, but across North America and Europe, the Mandarin changed how cold-weather folk thought about winter fruit.

 It all began in the mid 1800’s when ships arriving from Japan and the Philippines brought crates of imported Mandarins into the ports on the west coast of the US.These crates of sweet Mandarins then traveled via train to the big East coast cities.  So popular around Christmastime, that local papers from Toronto to New York City often announced their arrival with headlines like ”Japanese Oranges Arrive Just in Time For Christmas!’.

My father remembers as a four year old child in 1918 receiving sweet Mandarins in his Christmas stocking (his brothers once told me that he would hide them under his bed so that his other 7 brothers wouldn’t find them).

Trains were often painted promoting the arrival of the Mandarins. This began in the 1920’s but continued into the 1970’s as seen here.

Today, we are seeing a resurgence of Mandarin appreciation, with the introduction of new varieties, marketed under catchy brand names like ‘Cuties’ and Halo’s. The true Mandarin though is larger, and not unlike apples, encompass a whole group of named varieties which share the loose skin and easy-to-peel characteristics.

In Japan, the choicest varieties are known as the ‘Satsuma’ type. But understanding the various classes of Mandarins is a skill few of us really need to know or master, but why not try to explain the various differences? It’s just what I like to do!

Here are the several classes of Mandarin Oranges:

Class I – Mandarin (One class is actually called – Mandarin)
This class includes the varieties named ‘Changsa’, ‘Emperor’, ‘Oneco’ and ‘Willow-Leaf’ or China Mandarin’.

Class II – Tangerines:
This class includes: ‘Cleopatra’ , Ponki’, ‘Spice’, ‘Dancy’, ‘Ponkan’, ‘Sunburst’ (the Tangelo)

Class II – Satsuma Orange: Includes varieties of Satsuma such as ‘Owari’, Wase’, Kara’ and King Tangor. There are many hybrids as well.

Mandarin oranges in my greenhouse are just beginning to ripen. This variety is once that I purchases a few years ago from Logee’s Greenhouses named ‘Gold Nugget’. It is much larger than the catalog description, as it is not 5 feet tall, but it bears plenty of large, easy-to-peel fruit every winter. They rarely make it out of the greenhouse, though!

The very choice ‘Satsuma’ Mandarin has an easy-to-peel skin, is seedless and has a flavor unbeat in the citrus world. Their short season in December makes them something to look forward to around the holidays.

Old Christmas cards often featured festive greenery and oranges.

While researching for images and stories, I discovered this blog – InkwellInsirations by a Canadian writers group with a post  written by Anita Mae Draper entitled “What happened to Christmas Oranges?”. The images are terrific, and the newspaper clippings are even better.

For me, the Mandarin orange is tops. Tangelos and honey tangelos are a top favorite in January, but he December Satsuma is king.  Nothing beats a good, sweet, juicy easy-to-peel Satsuma Mandarin – seedless, with flavor that could almost be artificial (but in a good way! Like the tangerine Life Savors), but in the end, I think that its the nostalgia and history that makes the Mandarin so appealing (sorry!).

A fresh, easy to peel sweet orange must have been a real treat at a time before there were motor cars or even sushi chefs at every supermarket. Certainly worthy of a cherished place within a Christmas stocking on Christmas eve. SO this year, celebrate the Mandarin and be thankful that they are still a festive Holiday treat, even 150 years later.

Cultural Note: If you do find some seeds in those Clementines, forget about trying to grow them into full-grown trees. They won’t come true, and the resulting plants will just be thorny shrubs. I know some blogs are suggesting that you can raise your own from seed, but with citrus, that just is impossible unless it is a pure, wild species, and few if any of those are edible. But if you want to grow some citrus seeds with your kids, definitely do that – it’s how I first started growing plants! By the time I reached college age, those grapefruit plants that I started in first grade where taller than I was – but still no blossoms or fruit. They did their job, though!

Happy Christmas everyone!