Blood Oranges are one of my favourites of all the fruits. There is something very special about their delicious, rich, Mulberry wine flavour, and they are not only beautiful to look at and a delight to eat, but they are full of goodness.
Bloods have up to twice the Vitamin C content of their more orangey cousins.
Their Australian season is short but deliciously sweet.
Blood Oranges can be a little hard to track down; supermarkets rarely stock them, it is usually fruit shops that are home to these litttle purple juice balls.
Blood Oranges make an excellent juice, just using a simple hand-juicer you can get so much juice out of them.
Bloods originated in Sicily, hundreds of years ago, and in 1995, I was fortunate to be in Malta in Sicilian Blood Orange season. Malta is a beautiful island and due too her proximity to Sicily there were bags of Sicilian Blood Oranges in every small grocery store.
I found out that the colour of the Blood Orange is caused by the colour pigment and antioxidant anthocyanin. Anthocyanins are also found in Mulberries and Raspberries, and that may be why, to me, the Blood Orange has flavours of Raspberries and Mulberries in it.
In contrast the colour pigment of the Cara Cara Navel Orange is not due to anthocyanin but to the antioxidant lycopene.
I usually eat mostly local fruit, but I make an exception for the Bloods, which come from the Southern part of Australia.
To get that really deep and tasty pigmentation, Bloods need to experience the cooler and drier nights. So whilst they will grow in Queensland, they will not develop the purply-red colour and taste.
So I give much thanks and gratitude to the trees and farmers of Southern Australia for providing me with the truly delightful Blood Orange ♥ ♥ ♥
Love and Peaches and Beauty Days,
from Anne XX ♥
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