Clementines

Beautiful Clementines in Season

As a food stylist and photographer there is nothing more exciting than going to your local grocer and seeing a beautiful piece of produce that looks like it was just plucked from a tree. The leaves intact make this clementine so photogenic.

This time of year the clementines are at their peak. After shooting this was suitable for eating and very juicy I might add.

A little clementine history from Produce Pete follows. Clementine's are the tiniest of the mandarins. Imported from Spain, Morocco, and other parts of North Africa, clementines are a cross between a sweet orange and a Chinese mandarin. They are small, very sweet, and usually seedless. Most people think of clementines as small tangerines, but they're a different variety entirely, with a distinctive taste. The Clementine is an excellent eating orange. Its small size and lack of seeds make it particularly popular with kids. Clementines have been available in Europe for many years, but the market for them in the United States was made only a few years ago, when a devastating freeze in Florida made domestic oranges scarce and expensive. A lot of oranges, including clementines, were imported from Europe, and clementines started to catch on. Over the past few years they've become increasingly popular, and as the demand has gone up, so has the price.

Clementines also make a nice garnish for the Thanksgiving bird. I hope you can find clementines in your neck of the woods.