It has been a long time since I shared a What Is It Wednesday. I started What Is It Wednesday back in January of 2011. Since that time I have shared over thirty items with you for my What Is It Wednesday feature.
Sometimes I let you all guess what the item is and then I come back the following week and share the answer, how my family enjoyed it, and how I cooked or served it. Other times I have simply shared an new and/or unique item and some facts about it.
I have really enjoyed this feature over the last few years. My family has been a little more adventurous lately and have tried some new foods, so I hope to bring back What Is It Wednesday a little more often.
Today’s item is one I knew you all would guess. It is a pretty basic item and one I know many of you have eaten, so I am not making you guess this one. The item is blood oranges, but can you believe my family has not tried blood oranges until a few weeks ago. I am not sure why we have never tired them, but we haven’t.
I recently saw them for sale when I was placing my Azure Standard order and decided to give them a try.
It was interesting to see the different thoughts about blood oranges of my family. We have three in the family that love oranges and we have two that can take them or leave them. I fall in the take them or leave them category. I love orange juice and I love orange in things, but I am not a big fan of eating plain oranges.
My thirteen year old and my husband on the other hand, love to eat fresh oranges. They will eat them gone in no time when I buy them.
The interesting thing about blood oranges though was that I loved them. I thought they were much better tasting than regular oranges. I found them much sweeter and the texture better.
My daughter though that loves oranges, did not care for the blood oranges at all. Which I thought was a bit strange since she loves oranges so much.
After eating the blood oranges and having such different reactions to them, I decided to do a little research on exactly what blood oranges were and why they tasted so different than regular oranges.
Blood oranges are smaller in size than a regular orange. They look a lot like a regular orange on the outside, but have a dark red flesh. One of the things I learned while researching them is that they are sweeter than a normal orange, which probably explains why I loved them and my daughter didn’t. I don’t like things that are overly sour or tart, my daughter loves oranges and grapefruit for their tartness. Since blood oranges lacked some of that tartness, she did not enjoy them as much as a regular orange.
Blood oranges are mainly grown in the Mediterranean region, but most blood oranges sold in America are grow in California. Although Texas and Florida also grow a few blood oranges.
One of the things we discovered was how hard and messy blood oranges can be to peel and eat. We found them much easier to eat when sliced and then eaten.
What ear your thoughts on blood oranges? Have you tried them?
I love blood oranges… i even use them to make a salad dress
dressing!