Root Source: Clementine

by Cookthink

what you should know On this last day of 2007, we're looking back to the early 1900s. Algeria. An orphanage near Oran. While walking through his mandarin grove, a French monk finds a hybrid fruit. It's small, sweet and seedless, with a loose fitting peel that's easy to remove. The monk's name is Père Clément, and as his discovery spreads across northern Africa and up into Spain, it becomes known as the clementino. farewell and adieu, you fruits of spain Spain's clementine industry started in 1925 and is still the world's leading producer. For last year's season, Spain exported more than 145 million pounds of clementines to the U.S. alone. a crate notion Most of those clementines are packed and sold in colorful, 5-pound balsam crates. Look over the fruits to make sure they're the same bright orange. If you can wrestle a sample out of the crate, smell it to make sure there's no mustiness. Is it heavy for its size? Firm but with a little give? Now, peel and eat it. Is it sweet and juicy? You're good to go. orange sub? Clementines are less acidic (and sweeter tasting) than other citrus fruits. So while they can be used in place of oranges in most any recipe -- vinaigrettes, marinades, salads -- be prepared for a more syrupy, less tart flavor. what you need If you're going to make any of the recipes in this special drinks-only root source, you'll need a juice extractor. (Based on our in-house testing, it takes roughly six clementines to get 1 cup of juice.) You'll also need a good set of lowball glasses. We like these Bodum double-wall glasses. Need a cocktail shaker? We've been warming up to this Metrokane VIP shaker. what you do For this special New Year's Eve edition of the root source, we're going all drinks with some variations of classic cocktails. We prefer the orange blossom (gin) to the screwdriver (vodka), and we like to make it with a blend of orange and clementines juices. (For the simple syrup, try 101 Cookbook's clementine citrus version.)   Sweet clementine juice makes a traditional mimosa slightly more celebratory. If you're into screwdrivers, try the clementine martini (aka the clementini), a hybrid of a clementine screw driver and a clementine mimosa. If you've got some white wine that's been open for a while, try a clementine spritzer: a shot of clementine juice, a half cup of wine and a splash (or more) of soda water. A reminder: if you'd like to wander through cookthink.com, we now have an index of all our recipes.