Nature Tip fo the Month - Jan/Feb 2012

With Christams and January past and the days getting longer, how are you going with your positive intentions for 2012… where are you at with the challenge of a new healthy diet and fitness regime?

Can you make the most of any free time now to look at your cookbooks, magazines or internet browsing to search out some new recipe ideas for the coming weeks?

Actually, it’s been great to get back to eating normally – all that rich food was wonderful but small doses This time of year nice, healthy oranges arrive from southern Europe (particularly Spain) and are generally good quality and low in price. Seville (for marmalade making) and blood oranges (fabulous for fresh juice), should be available in stores by now and I always aim to make enough marmalade for the whole year – nothing beats the taste of homemade, it is time consuming but rewarding so why not give it a go?

The Romans brought the fruit to Europe and later oranges were spread to Spain by the Moorish conquest in the eighth and ninth centuries. The fruit arrived in Central America with Columbus in 1493 and soon afterwards the Portuguese introduced them to Brazil. Sweet oranges imported from Portugal were enjoyed by the wealthy British in the late sixteenth century. Oranges flourish in semitropical and subtropical climates. Today the top orange producers include Brazil and the United States with Florida producing the sweetest. Other leading producers are Spain, North and South Africa, Israel and Australia.

I really don’t know anyone who doesn’t like oranges especially the sweet orange (citrus sinensis) which belongs to the citrus family. They come from the most commonly grown tree in the world, it is evergreen and generally grows to a height of 9-10 metres. The fruit is a hesperidium, a type of berry. The sweet orange does not grow in the wild and is believed to have been first cultivated in southern China, north east India or southeast Asia. Bitter oranges (Citrus aurantium) were originally used for their scent rather than for eating.

There are many varieties of oranges for example

Common (also called white, round or blond) make up about two-thirds of all oranges grown and are primarily used for juice.
Valencia (or Murcia) one of the sweet oranges, a late season producer and also used for juice,
Navel primarily used for eating as the skin is thicker and easier to peel
Blood oranges which are widely grown in Spain and Italy have dark red pigmention and are considered to produce the most delicious juice.

Whatever orange you chose to enjoy you know you will be getting a good source of Vitamin C.

Do note that when the flesh or juice is exposed to air the vitamin content does deplete quickly. So drink your freshly squeezed juice straight away and prepare salads just before serving – try this one for a nutritious side dish to your evening meal.

Watercress and Orange Salad

Take a large bunch of watercress, washed and thick stalks removed. Two oranges, peeled and segmented. Toss the watercress and orange segments together and make a dressing with 6 tablespoons of vegetable oil, juice and grated rind of one orange, a teaspoon of honey, a squeeze of lemon juice and salt and pepper to taste.

Did you know:

The orange was the first fresh fruit to bear a trademark. In 1919 the California Fruit Growers Exchange burned 'Sunkist' on their oranges.
In Queen Victoria's day, oranges were given as Christmas gifts in England.
Almost 40% of the orange crop in the U.S. goes to make frozen concentrate.