I’ve fallen in love with a new food. Just this winter did I run a taste test on apple varieties to decide which I like best. I’d never thought to run such a test on navel oranges. I mean, they’re navel oranges, aren’t they?
Then I cut one open that was more red than a pink grapefruit (Texas pink grapefruit are the best…I like Florida for oranges). I thought about blood oranges, which have become fashionable in high-end restaurants for glazes, etc.
This orange was the sweetest, tastiest I recalled ever eating. The white pulp was tender and filling (citrus white linings are supposed to help reduce cravings when you’re quitting smoking). The checkout code said “Cara Cara.”
The next morning I cut open my second Cara Cara. It was as salmon-colored and sweet as the first. I went from a person who knew navel oranges came in different sizes, but not different varieties, to being totally enamored with this variety. I don’t know where I got them, but I’m sure they were on sale, because that’s how I buy oranges.
I asked the produce manager at Basha’s if they had Cara Caras. He said they come in in April. Every website I’ve seen talking about them say the middle of winter–December and January.
I recommend you look for them everytime you go to the store. When you find them, make note of the season. I’ve read they are not good if purchased at the end of the season (last summer’s peaches all rotted from the inside out after the first picking–I quit buying them after doing some Internet research on the cause of the blight).
When you find Cara Caras, please let us know when and where. And tell us, are they a new love for you?