Check preparations with tangerine and variations of the fruit

Blue skies and cold weather smells like tangerines. Especially in Curitiba, where varieties of this fruit have been appearing on stalls at fairs and supermarkets in piles since May, many still clinging to branches and leaves, giving off their autumnal aroma. The month is the beginning of the harvest of ponkan, tangerine, mimosa and morgote (or murcote), the four main varieties of citrus fruit grown in Brazil.

With orange peel and pulp in segments, the tangerines that arrive in Curitiba travel about two hours and come from the metropolitan region. Paraná is the fourth largest Brazilian producer of Citrus: more than half of the fruit growing in Paraná is aimed at this family. According to 2021 data from the Department of Rural Economy (Deral), the state has 55,400 hectares of orchards with orange, lemon and tangerine varieties. Cerro Azul, in the Ribeira Valley, is responsible for 9.2% of the national production of tangerines, with ponca being the main variety, accounting for 88% of the weight of the harvest.

Also called ponkan, the fruit is the largest of the tangerines, with a thick, yellowish skin and sweeter juice. The mimosa, in turn, presents a more reddish orange; and the morgote, a cross between tangerine and orange, has a peel that is more attached to the pulp. Tangerine, the smallest of all, proves the maxim that the most powerful perfumes are found in the smallest bottles: when peeled, its aroma is felt from afar, and it takes time to leave your fingers.

In 2023, 70 thousand tons of tangerines were harvested in Paraná. The state suffered a drop in citrus production this year, but the price, in turn, fell: autumn fruits, such as persimmon, kiwi and tangerine, had a decrease of almost a third in the price of the kilo, according to the Secretary of Agriculture and Supply (Seab).

“The harvest this season was 30% less than last year. With the increase in production costs, citrus growers have invested less in their orchards”, explains Paulo Andrade, agronomist at Deral. “On the other hand, the fruit grower brings fruit with a good standard of peel quality and flavor to the market”, he points out. For 2024, the estimate is that the harvest will exceed 100 thousand tons.

Low price, high taste

Autumn is the perfect time to consume tangerines. in natura or include them in recipes to take advantage of the fruit’s abundance at its peak of flavor. “It’s a super versatile fruit and easy to pair with sweet and savory dishes”, says Vavo Krieck, chef and professor of the Gastronomy course at PUCPR.

By combining sweetness and acidity, tangerine “binds the flavors of a dish”, defines Vavo. He recommends using the fruit juice in sauces for game, pork or chicken, or even preparing it the Indian way, as the base of a chutney to serve with meats and cheeses. “A strip of tangerine peel in a ragu can add an unusual layer of flavor without compromising the main flavors,” he says.

Vania Krekniski, chef and co-owner of the Limoeiro restaurant, uses the mimosa variety to add acidity to dishes with raw fish, such as ceviches, and other seafood, such as clams and oysters. “I love playing with flavors and pairing it with pepper and coriander,” she exemplifies her. In pasta, the chef’s recommendation is to use the peel of the fruit to flavor a butter and sage sauce. “To use the bark in sauces, you need to boil it three times, changing the water each time. In addition, the fruit, when processed, needs to be consumed quickly to avoid bitterness”, explains Vania.

There are two things to look out for when including the rind as an ingredient and avoiding bitterness in the dish. The first is the high concentration of essential oils present – ​​the same ones that are released when the shell breaks and perfume the environment –, which are eliminated when they are boiled. And the second is not to consume the mesocarp of the fruit, that is, the white part of the peel, also called albedo, a recommendation that applies to all citrus fruits.

Like all fruits, tangerine yields sweets to perfection. For making liqueurs, desserts and ice cream, which need more sweetness as well as aroma, Vania prefers to use ponkan. It is with the bark of this variety that the chef prepares ponkancello, her adaptation of the Italian liqueur limoncello, made with Sicilian lemon peel macerated in grain alcohol and sugar. In traditional desserts, fruit juice and peel zest are enough to flavor the preparations.

Social cook Roberto Watanabe, president of the NGO Ação entre Amigos Japan Brazil (Jabra), is an enthusiast of tangerine recipes that use the fruit almost entirely. During the Feira das Cooperativas in May, Roberto presented recipes for delicacies and bread with the ponkan variety. “We participated in the fair to raise awareness about the integral use of fruits, and the tangerine is a good example of that”, he says. The event, held at Praça Osório, in Curitiba, was a milestone in the beginning of the tangerine harvest in the state. “What you really can’t use are the seeds and twigs”, jokes Roberto.

Check out the recipes that use tangerine varieties in preparations such as salad dressing, fish sauce, chicken, and desserts such as tangerine manjar and sweet bread.

Tips

How to choose

• Choose those that have a uniform and more vivid orange;
• Evaluate the external appearance: select the fruits that have the skin intact and the stem still attached. This will make her last longer in the fruit bowl;
• Finally, feel the aroma! A fragrant tangerine is a sign of ripe and tasty fruit.

Tangerine Ponkan Manjar

Ponkan tangerine bread

Chicken with tangerine sauce

Ponkan tangerine ice cream

Mimosa Tangerine Salad Dressing

Salad suggestion: crispy leaves such as iceberg and romaine lettuce, endive, fresh pear, almonds and gorgonzola cheese.

Mimosa tangerine sauce for fish

Suggestion: Serve with tilapia, mackerel and shrimp, accompanied by peach palm tagliatelle with leek, plantain and citrus farofa.

Tangerine Tangerine Chutney