It was a cool sunny day I walked into the local supermarket. List in hand I navigated the aisles selecting items on the pre-printed list. I came to aisle 20, home of the produce and my favorite part of the store. Today , as well as the usual fare, fruit was one of the remaining items, oranges in particular. Last week I got tangerines, so I bypassed those, apples are free at UNO's, so those were out, what looked good were Navel Oranges,. Thoughts of pealing the thick skin to get a walnut size fruit were not so tempting. I loaded a bag with them anyway. A checkout and loading the car had me driving home with the loot. At home the fruit bowl got some needed replenishment minus the first orange. The first peel had me surprised……what have the biologists done with my orange? The thick peeling was gone, replaced by a skin a thin as my favorite Valencia orange. Yummy thoughts passed my mind as I continued to remove the thin peeling. I split it open…….more surprise, the orange was red. RED? In all the time I had avoided navel oranges they have done great and wondrous things? I ate the juicy orange in pleasant surprise. WAIT!! Where are the seeds?? There were no seeds!! I began to wonder if I had filled my bag with a mislabeled product. I looked at the remaining oranges in the bowl……yes they did have a navel…….a little navel…..a little innie, as opposed to the larger navel on the thick skinned fruit. Navel oranges are now fun!! Yes, someone in the citrus industry crossed something with a navel orange and came up with a nice fruit. Now if they could only do something for the orphan of the industry, the ugly fruit. Jerry
Jerry, there is an orange called the Blood Orange. I wonder if it is the same and sold as a navel.... I saw them a few years ago when we were in Fla, but I didn't get a chance to eat any. Maybe someone from Fla will weigh in on this fruit. It does sound yummy, though. I did buy a bag of clementines not long ago, small they are, but they sure were tasty! paper thin skins and very few seeds.
I read the label on the orange they are cara cara navel oranges a cross between Washington navel and the Brazilian Bahia navel. Jerry
Now, orange you glad you tried them. They have a citrus sale at our local store. Maybe I will look for those or the blood oranges. The last one sounds like something a vampire would eat.
