Satsuma mandarin

choi

本文通过一路BBS站telnet客户端发布

David Karp, Laguna Beach: Purple Queen beans, Pink Lady Apples, Satsuma
Mandarins. At hand are late apples (worth the wait) and early mandarins (
getting sweeter by the week). And check out these colorful beans. Los
Angeles Times, Nov. 18, 2009.
http://www.latimes.com/features/food/la-fow-market18-2009nov18,0,4284071.story

My comment:
(a) This report is about Laguna Beach farmers market. Laguna Beach is a city
in Orange County, California. See
Laguna Beach, California
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laguna_Beach,_California

(b) What interests me is 薩摩 Satsuma mandarin. The pertinent portion in
this report:

"Tilden Farms brings satsuma mandarins grown by Sierra Land Group in Pauma
Valley. As is common with many crops, the first satsumas showing up a few
weeks ago were pale yellow tinged with green, and a bit tart; but they're
getting better each week, and will be at peak quality by Thanksgiving.

"Satsumas seem like purebred mandarins, but recent scientific analyses of
genetic markers have shown that they probably also have some sweet orange in
their ancestry. Originating in China, they arrived in Japan between the 6th
and the 15th centuries, and became one of that nation's signature fruits by
the 1870s, when they were brought to California and Florida.

"Satsumas are popular because they're seedless (their pollen is sterile) and
easy to peel, with tender, aromatic flesh, and because they're the first
mandarins of the season. From the grower's standpoint, satsuma trees are
relatively cold-hardy, and the fruits usually come off before freezes strike
, so they're well suited to areas where freezes cause problems for citrus.
Ripe satsumas have a good balance of sweetness and acidity but are not
typically quite as rich in flavor as the best other mandarins and mandarin
hybrids later in the season.

(c) For a picture of the cross section and outward appearance, respectively,
of Satsuma mandarin, click the icon of mandarin in the left column and look
for pictures Nos. 2 and 11.

(d) Mandarin orange. Food Dictionary, Epicurious.com.
http://www.epicurious.com/tools/fooddictionary/entry?id=3395
(different kinds of mandarins that can be found in American markets)

(ii) Can you tell me what a "satsuma" is?
http://whatscookingamerica.net/Q-A/Satsuma.htm
("Satsuma mandarin may have originated in China but it was first reported in
Japan more than 700 years ago where it is now the major cultivar grown. * *
* The name "satsuma" is credited to the wife of a United States minister to
Japan, General Van Valkenberg, who sent trees home in 1878 from Satsuma,
the name of a former province, now Kagoshima Prefecture [鹿児島県], on the
southern tip of Kyushu Island, where it is believed to have originated.")

--