Sicilian blood oranges, maybe the best oranges in the world according to David Karp from Saveur.com

Photo credita - thedabble

As the golden morning light of winter washes over la fiera, the daily market in the eastern Sicilian city of Catania, shoppers bustle between stalls heaped with sheep’s milk ricotta, glistening fresh sardines, and fragrant fennel. Of all the delicacies displayed, however, nothing delights the Catanese more than the blood oranges, or arance rosse, piled high, some cut in half to reveal ruby or dark violet flesh that suggests the slightly sinister romance of Sicily. And they’re not just in the market. All over town, from the backs of three-wheeled trucks, weathered vendors cry ”Dolcissimi!” in praise of the sweetest blood orange of all, the tarocco. Long after midnight, crowds are still gathered at kiosks, sipping thick vermilion juice blended with mineral water.

On childhood trips to Italy, I came to love that juice. Back home in America, I fed my craving with juice squeezed from California-grown blood oranges. But they seemed to lack the tang of their Italian brethren. Were my memories mere romantic illusions? To find out, last winter I spent two weeks traveling around Sicily, the true home of the blood orange, visiting growers and shippers from the black slopes of Mount Etna to the terraced hillsides of Francofonte.

Blood oranges flourish in many western Mediterranean lands, but they reach perfection around Catania, far surpassing blander blond or ”orange” oranges in both flavor and popularity. Here, hot summers bring sweetness to the fruit, while cold winter nights, alternating with mild days, favor the development of anthocyanins, the red pigments that give blood oranges their distinctive berrylike taste and color. Connoisseurs insist that the Sicilian arancia rossa at its best, with its intense flavor, balance of acidity and sweetness, and complex aftertaste, is the world’s finest dessert orange.

By David Karp

Source: Saveur.com