I love this big orange.  Whoever decided to combine the easy peel-ability of the mandarin orange with the size and juiciness of a navel is clearly some kind of fruit goddess.  It’s not the prettiest fruit, definitely not the kind you’d want to have on display in your kitchen in a big glass bowl.  It’s like the shar-pei of the fruit world, so ugly that it’s actually kind of cute.  Its deeply textured skin makes it look more like an old man’s nose than something you’d want to eat. But once you get past that gnarled exterior, heaven awaits.

ME: So this crazy thing is called a sumo mandarin.  It’s a cross between a navel orange and a mandarin.

What does it look like?

SAM:  “Round and round and round, like a volcano. On the top it looks like exploding fire.”

LAUREN:  “It looks like a balloon upside down.”

What does it feel like?

LAUREN:  “Thick.  It’s thick when I scratch it.”

What does it smell like?

LAUREN:  “It smells like a real orange.”

Who’s ready to try this real orange?

ME:  “First I take off the volcano top.   The cool thing about it is that it peels like a mandarin orange….”

SAM:  “But inside it’s a real orange!”

ME:  “Do you guys love it?

LAUREN:  “This orange is hairy.”

ME:  “Don’t throw those strings on the ground!”