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Blood Oranges

by Mark DrzycimskiJan 22, 2007

Here is nothing ponderous, nothing, at the surface, but the temporal and fleshly, the eat-drink-and-be-merrily: I love blood oranges.

You may have seen them used before, somewhere, probably on an Iron Chef, probably garnished with sea urchin roe or alongside sepia-stained noodles, and most assuredly topped with a paper-thin slice of black truffle. Instantly, your eye is drawn to the color. On the surface, a common orange, but opened (in typical Iron Chef ginsu-fashion) its bloody flesh glares at you like a wound, your mind reeling, attempting to imagine what kind of demoniac tree might have borne such hideous offspring.

You wonder, does it taste like an orange? Blood? Smell? Is it warm? Does it have a pulse? The answers: Yes, mostly. No. Orange. Can be. No.

I’m not sure if I was lucky with my purchase, or if they all taste this good. They’re very sweet, for oranges, and they have a slight berry taste, which comes from the anthocyanin (typically found in red berries and flowers). Hence the color. And the name.

Oh, and the name. Some of the more timid grocers (read: those who actually want to sell them) mark them as Moro Oranges. That is, I guess, their name. But that doesn’t really capture it at all.

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