Blood Oranges. You love ’em or you hate ’em. Most of the haters I know seem to base their dislike purely on the name and appearance. Use the term “blood” in the title of anything food related and you’ll get an automatic ‘squick’ from almost all Americans. It’s how we were raised. It’s okay. There are an awful lot of us, hopefully more, that are taking an interest in where our food comes from, and in the case of animals, where and how they lived, and how they died. We’re trying make sure that what we put into our bodies is as good as possible and honor the animals by using as much as possible from each one. We’re facing the fact that there is blood involved. But I digress, this is about lovely, deep and vibrantly hued oranges. These that you see here are tiny little oranges, about the size of those baby clementines and not as deep red as I would have liked. Still, they were beautiful. The flavor, oh the flavor! Blood oranges have that traditional orange flavor but with a tart, raspberry-ish infusion. It’s a deeper and softer taste, one that makes you want to sit back and savor it. It’s slower than the usual bright, acidic, okay, time to go juice that we chug in the morning. While they’re here, try them in cocktails, cook with them, make sorbet. I guarantee that you’ll fall in love with their lovely red-orange color and their captivating taste.
This picture is just for fun. I think it looks cool even if it didn’t work the way I wanted it too. Happy accidents!
A Plate Full 