In Which I Eat a Kumquat

I like to follow up controversial posts that generate tons of conversations and debates with something that gives us all a break from the drama. This is more for me than for you, really. It takes a lot of attention and time to keep on top of a really rollicking Facebook debate, even though it’s something I clearly enjoy–otherwise I would have shut up a long time ago. In any case, bring on the fluff!

I’ve been talking about kumquats my whole life, but I never actually ate one until Denisa decided to bring home a pack from the store earlier this week. I don’t know what I really expected. Something like a date, maybe? Or a grape? No idea. They were just some exotic food with a strange name I liked to say now and then to be funny. “You’re such a little kumquat” is a lovely insult. Much funnier than “You’re such an apple.”

Kumquats are much closer to oranges and lemons than they are to grapes and dates, although they’re about the size of grapes. The really bizarre thing about them is that you don’t peel them. You pop the whole thing in your mouth, and it tastes about how you’d expect an orange to taste if you bit into it, peel and all.

Quite bitter, but after a little, you taste the sweet part of it, too. I tried peeling one, just to see if I could get only the sweet and avoid the bitter, but both flavors seemed to be throughout the pulp and the rind. You can’t separate them out, it seems.

Did I like it? I’m not entirely sure. It was different and strange, and I had about ten or twelve of them before I stopped. So I didn’t dislike it, but I also don’t think I’d ever be walking along in the grocery store and buy a pack on impulse. Perhaps that’s a good way of determining if you really like something or not–if you’d do it for no other reason than to do it. I’d eat one if it were placed in front of me, but I wouldn’t seek one out.

How about you? Was I just one of the few kumquat virgins in the world? (A sentence I never thought I’d be writing.) Have you had them? Want to try them? Do share!

And have a lovely weekend.