

The produce world can be a confusing place at times. Cookies will be used to track the affiliate links you click. These are products and services I recommend because I use or trust them. This means that at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase. If you are on the hunt for some seriously good citrus, you may want to start your search at one of America’s best supermarkets for 2018.This post includes affiliate links. Because they are so small and tender, they are also the most fragile kind of mandarin, which means they might be harder to find in supermarkets. They are the smallest, most tender and sweetest variety and are also the easiest kind to peel. Satsumas are yet another kind of mandarin orange, originating in Japan. If you have ever purchased a net bag of “cuties” or “sweeties,” you have, in fact, bought a bag of clementines along with some charming marketing. Is this sounding familiar? It should! The term mandarin in used interchangeably with the term tangerine in the Unites States, and for good reason - those thin-skinned tangerines are a type of mandarin! That’s right: Tangerines, with their bright orange, slightly mottled, pebbly skin (that is a bit tougher than a clementine’s) and their sweet-tart flavor, are one of the larger members of the mandarin family.Ĭlementines are also a kind of mandarin, though they are the smallest member of the family, adored for their sweet and seedless segments and smooth, deep orange, glossy peel. They are flatter on both ends than the typical sweet orange, and easy to peel. Mandarins are a kind of orange - the mandarin is actually the original ancestor of all other oranges.

But which is which, what are the differences, and how can you tell them all apart?įear not, kind readers: There are answers to all these niggling questions, and things shall soon be clear as day. Tangerines, clementines, mandarins, satsumas, not to mention “cuties” and “sweeties” - there are so many names used to describe small, round, orange citrus fruits.
