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Mandarins: Thanksgiving marks the kickoff of the season for mandarins, the small, intensely flavored citrus fruits formerly known as tangerines. Both names refer to the fruit’s origins (China or Tangiers) and both are fairly accurate: They traveled to Europe from Southeast Asia via North Africa. Among the varieties showing up over the next weeks are Satsumas, which are seedless, easy to peel and have a light, almost tropical flavor. They’re in now, but won’t be for long; spring’s adverse weather means the crop is a light one and will probably be done well before Christmas. Clementines, Dancy tangerines and Fairchild mandarins are just coming in, and though they’ll continue through January, these varieties, like Satsumas, will be less plentiful than last season. “It’s a lighter set,” says Tony Thatcher of Friend’s Ranches, whose citrus is available at the Hollywood Farmers Market. Not only weather, but last year’s heavy crop is also a factor. Trees produce less a year after a big set, though the flavor is just as good, and sometimes even better.
Various vendors, $1.50 to $2 per pound.
-- Amy Scattergood
