Tuesday, March 9, 2010

Syrian Orange Salad

It's still citrus season in Berkeley, which means we can't get enough of the mandarins, pomelos and sweet limes overflowing at the farmers' market. Alongside these more exotic offerings, we're adoring the navel oranges and wanted to share this simple preparation we've been enjoying for years. It can be breakfast, dessert, a snack or a palate cleanser. What we love about this dish is how easily it transforms a plain old fruit snack into something special; we even used to make this in our dining hall in college with nothing but an orange, a knife, a bowl and some honey. But if you have or can seek out the orange blossom water (you can find it in Middle Eastern grocery stores), the extra citrus perfume elevates the entire experience to something pretty heavenly.

We've blathered about the elegant potential of supreming citrus before, and once again refer you to this helpful tutorial if you need a visual to go with our instructions.

Per person:
1 navel orange (the slightly reddish one pictured above is a cara cara)
Honey or agave nectar to taste, depending on how sweet the orange is
A pinch of cinnamon
A few drops of orange blossom water (optional)

Slice off the top and bottom of each orange. Carve off the peel from the sides and then cut out the orange sections over a bowl, leaving the membranes behind. Squeeze the extra juice from the membranes into the bowl with the oranges. Stir in honey or agave, cinnamon and optional orange blossom water.

7 comments:

eliz said...

oh, how i remember those times in the northrop dining room. everytime i supreme citrus, i still think of this salad.

I Heart Kale said...

Yeah, it was either this or the microwave Rice Krispy treats, and orange salad was way more in sync with our blog reputation.

Anonymous said...

me, too, me, too! (to the remembering from northrop dining room and hallways and to the thinking of hannah everytime I supreme citrus!)
-erin o.

GretchenJoanna said...

Twice I made a version of this, without the cinnamon but definitely *with* the orange blossom water, and it is indeed heavenly.

Anonymous said...

This is one of my favourites.

Italia said...

May this recipe will work well for me...I am excited to have a try for this coming special occasion in the house. I was thinking of something none traditional recipe and I thinks this will be it

Italia said...

May this recipe will work well for me...I am excited to have a try for this coming special occasion in the house. I was thinking of something none traditional recipe and I thinks this will be it