Citrus

Citrus season is coming to an end. There is still quite an array of different citrus fruits available. I was making my way through a pomelo this morning. Opening one of those is always an event, because it requires so much effort, and then there is suspense in finding out if you picked a good one. My husband and I have different theories about how you know. He says that it should feel heavy relative to its size. I say you should hold the pomelo and ask it if it is good. When I brought two of them home, he lifted them and announced that they would be dry inside. But they weren’t! Good ones are so good. I like the mild, clean taste, the fresh smell and the almost crunchy texture. I like the robust little droplets inside a translucent skin. I wonder what they are called. In a pomelo you can pull them apart without them breaking. Sometimes the ones that grow in the ends of the pomelo segments are shaped strangely because of the cramped quarters and they remind me of elements of arabesque designs.

Besides the pomelo, which is bigger than the largest cage I can make with my fingers touching, I also had on the kitchen counter this morning a box of cumquats, orange and slightly larger than big grapes. You eat them whole, skin and all. The skin leaves a burning sensation around your mouth. But the white of the rind seems a little sweet, and the fruit itself is tasty. Between these two biggest and smallest members of the citrus family there are so many other siblings, grapefruits, pomelites (a cross), oranges, tangerine-like things and lemons all in different varieties. I have heard of sweet lemons, but never tasted one. They are reportedly not sweet, but make up for this deception with their fragrance.

The citrus trees in the gardens here are flowering. This weekend we visited Mazra’ih, and on the grounds I walked beneath a ceiling of citrus tree branches. The bees were visiting the flowers and the sound they made was loud and resonant as stringed instruments. Inside, I found that someone had picked what I guess was a pomelo flower. It was like a dinosaur orange blossom, over 2 inches across and sort of angular, or a little bit crude in shape, like an origami flower. It smelled good.

It makes me happy to see the citrus trees begin to flower while they are still bearing the last of their fruit. It seems to defy natural laws of age and time, and to imply that you can be both decorative and productive at the same time.