World's Finest Citrus
Last year I gave a four-year old friend a handful of tiny Kishu mandarins and he actually squealed with delight. "Oranges for children!" he said, clearly wondering why all foods don't come scaled for little people. He began to peel the miniature fruit, delighting in the tiny sections. Then he put one into his mouth. And didn't say anything until he had devoured 6 of them. "More," he said simply when he was done.
These are extraordinary little treats, better, to my mind because their season is so short. They're like the first real strawberries of spring, the fleeting local cherries, the tomatoes of high summer... Something to anticipate with pleasure and eat with utter abandon, trying to fix the flavor in your mind so you can bring it forward when all you have is memories.
Kishu mandarins won't be ripe until January, but the orchard is taking pre-orders now. Here's the link:
(http://formdesk.com/kishu/order2email)