so clementines and mandarines eh?

[Tuomas]

You know, for the past few weeks, instead of drinking beer, I've been eating like 5 small citrus fruits a night. And today at the shop I started wondering. They're all Spanish, but why is the shelf full of satsumas, then the next day it's clementines and the next, it's mandarines.

Now I can tell an orange from a grapefruit and a citron from a kumquat, but who can really trell the difference between a satsuma, a clementine and a mandarine? See here, we've got pictures a, b and c.

abc

Can you tell which one is which? And no point checking the urls, I changed them to fool you.

Then we've got tangerines, tangors and tangelos :S

I think the clementines were more sour than the satsumas though, and they had a thinner peel. But that might be just an individual. Or a sour one because it's still a bit raw. argh, these are getting me all mixed up!

They're good though...

[Evil]

Fruits around here come in so many different sizes and shapes, I have NO idea. But, in a taste test, I could tell easily.

[LimpingFish]

"It is commonly called mikan in Japan, satsuma in the UK, naartjie in Africa and mandarin or tangerine in Canada. In the United States, satsumas are most frequently marketed as tangerines. It is less commonly called satsuma tangerine, satsuma orange, or satsuma mandarin."

There's your answer. They're all the same.

Except...um...the humble Clementine.

"A clementine is the fruit of a variety of mandarin (Citrus reticulata), named in 1902. The traditional story is that it was "originally an accidental hybrid said to have been discovered by Father Clément Rodier in the garden of his orphanage in Misserghin, Algeria."

Fascinating.

[Tuomas]

Yet it makes no sense to import clementines, mandarins and satsumas... or does it? Is it like the same product, but rivalry sells. Some think this is better than this, and then they all sell instead of just one selling! Conspiracy, that's what it is!

[LimpingFish]

If it is, it's a boring one.

[evenwolf]

I made a wonderful smoothie the other day, with mandarin oranges being a prime ingredient!


Ive always loved em'.

[Sparky]

I love teeny citrus fruits. Those and the tiny finger sized bananas. Miniature food is fun.

[SSH]

Clementines are seedless (unless accidentally cross-pollinated)... mandarins and satsumas are not.

[Moresco]

They're num nums.  satsuma is also the name of a plum, very confusing.  And why do they call them satsuma's in the UK ...but in Japan they now refer to them as mikan when satsuma is obviously a japanese origin?? But in north american countries we call them tangerines?  how did that happen?

[Nacho]

Hey, satsuma is an orange, if I am not wrong... Big (maybe as big as one of those rubber fake base balls), skin "pasted" to the fruit (You might need a knive to peel it, and cut, better than peeling), and very juicy. Well... you all know how an orange is.

Clementina is a mix or bitter orange and a mandarine, so it has middle size (like a closed fist, maybe), it' s skin is more "attached to the fruit" than mandarines (still, you can peel it with yout fingers)

And mandarine is the smaller one, (maybe just as double as a golf ball) it smells really good, if you peel it you' ll have a lovely smell in your hands for hours and it's very easy to peel.

And yeah, Valencian citrics are specially good... We are not good at ma ny things, but this one is top. 

[Moresco]

yah like the lovely smell I had in my hands when I was forced to clean Big 5's counters to earn cash? lolz.  I know it all too well.

[Nacho]

What is big 5' s counters? Does it have something to see with oranges?

[zabnat]

I don't know about the size of your hand Nacho, but I have never eaten a clementine as big as my fist (an orange maybe)

And what I can tell from the experience you described mandarine like clemetine and vice versa
Clementine has always been the one easy to peel and tasted sweet for me.

[Moresco]

What is big 5' s counters? Does it have something to see with oranges?

You mean do, something to DO with oranges.  And yes.  Big 5 is a store I worked at once.  They made you clean the counters with this orange smelling stuff, got all over your hands...smelled great, but horribly difficult to get off, so you'd be forced to smell it everyday for hours and hours.  Yuck. :p

[Phemar]

I can tell the difference:

1. Naartjies, 2. Mandarins, 3. Satsuma

[Buckethead]

Now thats Clementine!

[radiowaves]

a) mandarine b) satsuma c) clemente ?