Tangy Tangerine

The citrus world surely fascinates all us human beings. I have a particular fondness to all kinds of citrus; the perfect balance of sweetness and tanginess is the ideal taste combination a fruit should have, but it is the haunting smell of the peel that makes all citrus irresistible. The winner in the citrus family must be the tangerine, the reddish orange variety of mandarin oranges. 

Even the word tingles my mind. When it comes to tangerines, I cannot help but think of two books that I always enjoy browsing through while eating a tangerine. One was, as its name suggests, bought initially for its title, "Travels with a Tangerine," a travelogue written by Tim Mackintosh-Smith, a scholar in Arabic, who followed the trail of Ibn Battuta, the great Arab traveler who set out from his native Tangier in 1325, starting a long journey of 30 years. Tangerines were named after Tangier, but unfortunately the great Arab traveler could never have tasted them in his home city, but he might have enjoyed them in China, as they were not yet available in the Mediterranean back in the 1400's. 

The second book is by M.F.K. Fisher, "Serve it Forth," where her essay "Borderland" includes the best writing on peeling a tangerine. How can one who has read this great piece peel a tangerine without thinking of M.F.K. Fisher? This week I'm cheating a bit, actually not daring to write a single word on tangerines, but copying the piece, to remember how to enjoy a tangerine. Now take a tangerine, sit back and read slowly as you peel it, inhaling its magical perfume and savoring the literary magic of M.F.K. Fisher. 

"In the morning, in the soft sultry chamber, sit in the window peeling tangerines, three or four. Peel them gently; do not bruise them, as you watch soldiers...