Wow, now here is a confusing fruit – or rather bracket term for some very closely related fruits which are always being mixed up and even sold as each other in your local supermarket… identity theft?

The mandarin, as we all know, is a type of orange – of which there are many varieties but we feel that you really out to know about the main types of Mandarin because odds are, they are in your shopping basket!

The Mandarin family are less robust than your average supermarket ‘orange’ but we like to think that also makes them more cute! They are not spherical like their big brother and they are a darn site easier to peel!

So here are the main varieties which you will need to know…

• Tangerine – Packed full of flavour! Get ones that feel heavier than they look with pebbled skin! Tangerine is one of the parents of the commercial orange! Weird Huh!
• Satsuma – Japanese by Birth.  A very sweet and very cute fruit – so go easy on the handling as it can’t take much rough and tumble, but is easy to peel.
• Clementine – Generally seedless so it’s good for smoothies (of course you can always pick the seeds from the other types)
• Tangor – technically only half mandarin – a cross breed with the seet orange – Guess what – it’s sweet!

We would happily put any of these fruits into a smoothie – for a fuller bodied flavour go for fresh tangerine. We tend to freeze segments of satsuma and use them as ‘nice-cubes’.

Nutrition

The mandarin brothers are all quite similar in terms of what nutritional goodies you get from them. Of course they are high in Vit C and beta-carotene as well as folate! They also contain potassium, magnesium and some helpful B vits!

Random Facts

Traditionally at Chinese new year celebrations single women would write their contact details on Mandarins and throw them into crowds in the hope of finding an eligible bachelor! Have a go at this down  on the local high street – NO – DON’T!!! That is what securely monitored dating sites are for!

Would you believe me if I told you that these fury little critters are in the same family as almonds?

Well… they are – of course they look nothing like each other apart from the stone which has a different texture – but who cares, you aren’t going to eat the stone anyway and peaches are much nicer in smoothies!

Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No – it’s a nectarine!

Which is actually a peach! Really? Yeah! Peaches and nectarines are the pretty much the same; both having a delicate taste and texture along with a tart and yet sweet taste which will differ between fruit. Both types become sweeter as they ripen. The difference between the two is that the peach is like a nice suede jacket in texture and the nectarine is smooth like a baby’s bottom due to its funky recessive gene.

Use and Storage

Eat them as soon as you buy them or a week after – they will be ripe and ready either way and won’t change muc

h. They may soften a little but that is due mainly to decomposition of the proteins and carbohydrates within, nevertheless it would seem – based on experience – that sweetness may be enhanced due to this!

Don’t feel the need to chill your peaches and nectarines they taste best at or just above room temper

ature, hence why they are lovely when cooked or used to make hot smoothies!

Nutrition

Low in calories, high in fibre, vitamin C and A as well as potassium and niacin – great healthy snack for those watching the waistline – perfect in calorie conscious smoothies!

Immortality

Yep, peaches lead to immortality – or at least the old Chinese legends go. Let us know if you discover anything on this one!

As you know by now it is not actually a nut! Grown throughout the tropical regions for many uses, on of which is for it’s edible fruit, yay! The fruit, by the time it reaches our shops, has had it’s husk removed and appears to be a wood-like shell (good for horse imitation). Once that is cracked you’re into a white wonderland of endosperm (the meat) and water! Of course you can eat the meat fresh or dried and drink the water.

Nutrition and Liquid Form

Coconut water is actually an un-branded isotonic drink – full of sugar, protein, fiber, and minerals in the same concentration as the body’s cells – so no more expensive sports drinks needed then! Coconuts also pack in some added vitamins and antioxidants for you; how good of them!

You will also no doubt be familiar with coconut milk. Made by merging the coconut meat with hot water. It has a high fat content as the raw flesh does and a luscious aromatic full bodied creamy flavour and texture!

The fat in coconut is not to be feared, oh no! The fats are mainly Medium Chain Triglycerides (MCT’s) which do not get stored as fat readily but rather undergo a process called beta-oxidation and are then used much like glucose. Recently athletes have been using MCT’s in preparation for endurance events such as Iron Man Triathlons. However if you sit around in front of the TV eating coconut you will get fat!

Where to Buy

Fairtrade Coconuts can be found in Asda, Morrisons, The Co-Op and Sainsbury’s – be sure to lobby your supermarket to get their act together. Also be sure to be asking for Fairtrade coconut water and milk products!

Description

A stock ingredient in your smoothie fridge (or your normal fridge if your don’t have a dedicated smoothie one… I’m not sure who does). You can add yoghurt to most smoothies to add smooth velvety creaminess.

Made by the fermentation of milk using bacteria – yum! Lactic acid + Milk Protein = thick tangy smoothie ingredient! It has been made for well over 5,000 years and gets its Turkish name from it’s thickness. It has historical traces in most world cultures and forms a quasi-staple food for most people.

Yoghurt comes in a massive variety of flavours – both from the differences in cultivation and the addition of other flavours. you will also find a variety of thicknesses and amount of macro-nutrients in each brand of yogurt so make sure you check the label so you know what you’re getting your self into! Of course there is also frozen yogurt which we highly recommend for smoothage!

Healthy Stuff

Loads of calcium and protein here, making yoghurt a good option for those wishing to loose body fat and add muscle. Yoghurt is also rich in riboflavin (vit B2), and vits B6 and B12 – so is fantastic for releasing energy from other foods as well as maintaining normal bodily functioning. Lactose intolerant? Non necessarily a problem with yoghurt apparently as the lactose is largely converted to lactic  in the fermentation process!

Buying and Storing

Buy your favorite type and flavour then ensure you make the supermarket know that you’d like to see fairtrade equivalents SOON! (if yoghurt has been imported). Once done whack it in the fridge, otherwise it will start cultivating all sorts of things its self rather than enabling you to cultivate a yummy smoothie!

Click here to find out where you can buy fairtrade yoghurt and  frozen yoghurt - yuuuum, frozeeeen!

Fun Facts

• Oft been used as food offerings to pagan god’s
• Some research suggests yoghurt can help prevent cancer (this research is  rather sparse!)
• Used as a ‘fighting food’ by Genghis Khan and King David which they gave to their armies!

Pears have been around for well over 3000 years as a cultivated fruit perhaps originally found in China (who are still the worlds largest producer) having evolved from several pear-like species. Of course pears are now found all around the world coming in a wide variety of shapes, sizes and flavours; good news for smoothie lovers!

Varieties

The most common varieties you will find in your local shops are the conference pear, comice pear, anjou pear, sekel pear and increasingly the asian pear. So which ones should I use in my smoothie?

Use

It really is down to personal preference of which pears you use in your smoothies, give them all a try and decide for yourself. We here at smoothiecast are massive fans of the asian pear, for its juiciness and its subtle high notes. With a pear you will need to use a lot of ice in the smoothie or some avocado to offset the grainy pear texture. You can use a very ripe sekel pear if you wish to avoid graininess. Another alternative is to use juice or canned pears, Jake often freezes his first or stews them which also does the trick!

Nutrition

Pears are full of dietary fibre… yum! They are also a good source of vitamins C and K and give you about 10% of your RDA for copper!

Fairtrade

Most good supermarkets now stock Fairtrade pears – See List – You will notice some missing though; get lobbying your supermarket to get their ideas together! Fairtrade pear juice would also be good no?

]]> http://smoothiecast.co.uk/fruit-files/pear/feed/ 0 http://smoothiecast.co.uk/fruit-files/melon/ http://smoothiecast.co.uk/fruit-files/melon/#comments Tue, 08 May 2007 18:48:37 +0000 admin 114 at http://smoothiecast.co.uk It would be foolish to think of the melon as one fruit, we all know that there are many melons in the melon family! Water, Cantaloupe and honeydew are the main ones that most of are using on a day to day basis, these can be subcategorised further but I’m not going to bore you with semantics.

Melons grow in nasty weedy looking places which are well watered and have plenty of fresh air.

The Watermelon

Guess what? The water melon is made of…. Count it…. 92% water, the wateriest of all fruit. Although some would argue that it’s not actually a melon, for our purposes it’s a melon (if you don’t like the incorrectness then you may call it what you want, Ian likes to call his ‘Dorris’)

Watermelon can be cooked, both flesh and rind in many ways which I think is cool! The seeds can be preserved for a long time and eaten very much like pumpkin seeds. The seeds are also pressed to obtain oil. And watermelon can be used in drinks and smoothies, woooooooo!

Watermelons are packed full Vits C, A, B1 and B6 and also contain a good amount of potassium and magnesium. Pink watermelons also have a powerful antioxidant. But best of all they are packed of…. Again…. Water!

The watermelon can range from flavourless to very sweet to tangy! So always check your melon before smoothing to make sure it’s the flavour you want!

The Cantaloupe

Bees are key to these sweeties, the bees help to pollinate the fruit and the more bees the sweeter, I wonder if the bees are happy that we steal their produce, maybe they’ll plot against us humans and sting us all! Or then again maybe not! Who knows? Do you? If so please tell us what the sly stingers are planning on doing!

Due to their wonderful aroma and sweetness the cantaloupe is normally served straight up or with ice cream, custard, cream and the usual compliments to sweets and deserts.

Cantaloupes are a good source of Vit C and beta-carotene, they also work wonders for your circulatory and immune systems, that’s always good!

These melons are always very sweet; they are brilliant for lifting out other flavours in a smoothie and add irreplaceable aromas!

The Honeydew

Nice and sweet like the cantaloupe, in fact some can’t tell the difference. They generally have a more subtle flavour with fewer aromas but a longer lasting taste.

The Honeydew and Cantaloupe can be cross-bred to create the popular Galia/Gala melon.

Honeydews contain a good amount of Sodium and Vit C.

Preparation

Wash all melons thoroughly, especially cantaloupes! Cut into segments and remove seeds as best you can, this is hard with watermelons (although you can buy seedless ones!) but don’t sweat it too much. Remove rind and skin, cut into chunks. You’re ready to smooth away.

Jakes tips: Use watermelon as a sweet base for stronger flavours, other melons can be used to add sweetness, lift other dominant flavours to their potential and add aromas, melons work very well together! Try out our some of our melon smoothies!

There are 3 types to my knowledge with the American Cranberry being the one I use, and to be honest I’ve never tried the others, so if you do; let us know what you think.

Storage

In the fridge, in a sealed container, they can keep longer if cooked or kept immersed in alcohol.

Usage

In the smoothie maker as they are (make sure you de-stalk and wash them if they are not already)

Nutritional Info

Full of antioxidants and Vit C, can kill bad bacteria and encourage good bacteria. They are useful in maintaining a healthy bladder and urinal tract. Some people even use it as an aid against paralysis of the spinal chord. Cranberries also help fight oral plaque.

Tips

If you keep your cranberries in alcohol this can make a nice drink after the berries are removed. You may even add the alcohol to your smoothie for an extra twist (if you are of legal age!!!)

Oranges and orange juice are consumed by nearly everyone worldwide, being produced by many warm countries in the Mediterranean, Asia, Far and Near East, America and The Orient.

Storage

In a fruit bowl with other fruits, don’t allow them to be near fruit that is past its best or they make a right mess and go really manky!

Preparation

Peel, segment and bung in the smoothie maker

Nutritional stuff

Loads of Vit C, Folate and Potassium. Oranges fight disease caused by age, lower cholesterol and are packed full of anti-oxidants! (Wohoo for Oranges!)

Hints and tips

• Freeze segments for use as ‘nice cubes’ replacing ice cubes in your favourite smoothie.
• Include the white pithy bits between peel and flesh; this is rich in Vit C and is a good source of pectin.

Random Facts

• The peel can be used to repel slugs and vampires (oh no- that’s garlic)
• BUY FAIRTRADE ORANGES: Available in most big supermarkets!

Purple ones tend to have a more intense smell and flavour, contain less acid and are smaller than their yellow fellow!

Storage

As with most tropical fruits, in a fruit bowl away from heat and sunlight or in the fridge.

Preparation

Cut in half and scoop out contents, don’t eat the skin, it is slightly toxic but nothing to horrific.

Handy Tips

• Use passion fruit as an aroma enhancer, it smells nice along with citrus and tropical fruits!
• Try using passion fruit juice instead of adding passion fruit straight into the smoothie maker.
• Some say that after eating the passion fruit you’ll fall in love with the person you next look at- be very careful! I looked at Ian…

Nutritional Info

Ace for your digestion system, digesting protein and some say good for inducing childbirth, we wouldn’t know! Full of manganese and Vits C and B1.

Storage

Fruit bowl or fridge!

Preparation

Remove outer layer of spikes and hard stuff (that’s a technical term) and also remove the harder core leaving you with a hollow cylinder. Then chop into bits and add to smoothie maker.

Hints and tips

• Once cubed try freezing the flesh to make ‘nice cubes’ and add instead of ice to other citrus/tropical smoothies.
• Dried pineapple slices make a nice crouton or glass decoration on top of smoothies!

Remember, You can get Fairtrade Pineapples in a number of varieties at several supermarkets

Famous for its use in wine along with jams, pickles, jelly and it’s seeds are also used to make oil. They come in a variety of colours and flavours (Great for mixing and matching). When dried in the sun, these big juicy nuggets turn into the much loved raisin, mmmmmmmmmmm!

Grapes can make microwaves go crazy and malfunction if you create a correct structure with them, how verily odd!!!

Storage

Cool place out of the sun, we like them in the fridge, they taste much better and keep longer, bargain!

Usage

ASAP after purchase, wash before use

Nutritional stuff

Antioxidant, anti-histamine and anti-inflammatory (good for Jakes hay-fever), Vit C, could lower cholesterol and prevent heart disease (can’t be a bad thing)

Tips

• Get seedless grapes, seeds don’t take well to smoothies.
• Grapes can be used to naturally sweeten any smoothie of your choice.
• Grapes can be used as ‘nice cubes’- frozen and used instead of ice.

Strawberry jam, strawberry jelly, strawberry ice cream, strawberry desserts, strawberry crumble (the list isn’t quite as good as the shrimp one from Forest Gump)

Nutritional Stuff

Packed full of Vit C, good source of manganese, folate and potassium

Storage

In the fridge (or freezer), don’t let them get warm; they don’t like that at all!

When to use

When still firm but not rock solid, the redder the better! If there is any leakage then they are past best and should be thrown in the bin of oblivion

Tips

Freeze your strawberries and use them as a delicious replacement for ice cubes! Remember to pluck the leaves off!

The most popular fruit in England when in season, so a winner all round!

They can be made into jams and jellies or glazed in sugar, put into desserts and the like.

Nutritional stuff

Vitamin C Powerhouse!!! And high vitamin A

Storage

In the fridge, but when you eat them have them warm, they taste nice.

When to use

ASAP after purchased as they go off quickly.

A few tips

Use these gems as ‘nice cubes’, freeze ‘em and then add to your favorite smoothie, goes well with other berries.

Apples are used in pies, crumbles, dipped in chocolate, toffee, sugar. They can be made into marmalade, spreads and butters, crisps and chips, baked and stewed, wines and cider and of course you can just chomp into one whole.

Storage

In the fruit bowl. (But you should know that)

When to use

Apples last ages really, and even when they start to shrivel you can still bung them in the smoothie maker. Apples are quite hard so they’re good for juicing too. If you have a juicer why not make some fresh apple juice to go in your smoothie.

How to use

You can put apples into a smoothie maker in chopped pieces, however this may cause your smoothie to be unsmooth, so try adding an Avocado to add smoothness or use apple juice instead!

Nutritional stuff

An apple a day keeps the doctor away. Vit C, antioxidants, protection from cancer, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and stress. They may even promote weight loss and lower cholesterol.

A few tips

Try different types of apples, for a whole range of flavours! Don’t eat or add the core to your smoothie, it wont harm you but they aren’t too good for you and don’t taste all that good!

The avocado makes a pretty houseplant, why not have a go! You probably won’t get any fruit of it though, shame!

Nutritional value

Fatty of the fruits, the avocado contains loads of saturated fat, nearly a quarter of what you need in a day, so a great way to add some quick fat to your day! (remember we all need fat despite its bad name). Loads of potassium in these gems, and also vits B, E and K.

Interesting usage

Guacamole is made from the avocado along with some sushi dishes, goes nicely with poultry and is good with starchy food such as rice or bread as a meat substitute. Avocado oil is also made from… well avocado. Try the avocado with sweet and savory dishes alike and you shouldn’t go wrong. You could even use it as part of a cement type of mixture as ancient tribes did.

Storage

Cool dry place, can be placed next to banana to quickly ripen

Usage

Use when soft and the exterior is dark, almost black.

A few tips

Use avo’s to make smoothies even smoother, it truly is the king of smooth. Also the fruit was thought to have great benefits for fertility, let us know what you think! Jake recommends combining an avocado with mint extract and you could even add pistachio and brazil nuts (try their oils if you can’t be bothered with the pounding) nice!

We all know how versatile these wonderful bundles of yellow are, used in cooking, to make sweet and savory dishes, especially in less economically developed countries where they substitute for an equivalent of mashed potato, they can be chipped and glazed, eaten raw of course and last but not least they smooth real well!!!

Healthy Stuff

Packed full of Potassium, Vits: A B6 and C, and real good for when you need to go!
A brilliant source of carbohydrate!

Storage

How to store: in the cool, avoid direct sunlight

Preparation

We all know how!

When is it ripe?

Depends who you are, some like it green, some like it yellow, Jake likes his very black. (Some species, not normally found in your average green grocers, turn maroonish when ripe, so don’t be fooled by these little tricksters)

Guava: A tropical shrub from the Caribbean and the Americas, with a delicious edible fruit (and that’s always good!)

There are many different varieties with slightly varying flavours, however there are few of these available in fruit retailing shops in general, these normally have a green/yellow-pink exterior, when ripe, and an orangey flesh.

Interesting facts

Guava’s are used to make desserts and sweets and even jam, and are also used in day to day cooking, generally combined with salt.
guava Nutrition

High in vitamin A, B, and C, folate, potassium, calcium, iron and are a good anti-laxative (always good – don’t eat too many in one go, or you’ll need many other fruits to become regular again)

Storage

Room temperature, can be placed in fridge as it becomes over ripe.

Preparation

Use when ripe (soft to touch, green/yellow- pink exterior): cut up into chunks and place all parts of the fruit into the smoothie maker along with your other chosen ingredients.

The mango is regarded as the queen of fruits in tropical areas of the world and is one of the most important fruit crops in tropical and subtropical areas. There are many varieties of mangos (over 1,000!). The mango is a medium sized fruit measuring 5-13 cm in width and 5-25 cm in length. The surface of the mango skin is smooth and thick, but non-edible. As the fruit ripens it turns to yellow-green or yellow-orange, often with splashes of crimson or blushed with dark red.

Healthy Stuff

Mangoes are high in vitamin A, vitamin C, potassium, niacin and fibre. Mangoes help protect against cancer, arteriosclerosis and they help maintain bowel regularity.

Buying and Storing

Try to choose large, firm, unblemished yellow/red mangoes and store them in your fruit bowl for 3-4 days until they ripen. You can get Fairtrade mangoes from Asda, Booths, Co-op, Marks and Spencer, Sainsbury’s, Waitrose and Tesco stores, when they’re in season.

Preparation

Jake says: Peel the mango with a sharp knife then cut off slices of the mango flesh and put them straight in the smoothie maker. Make sure you avoid the pit, and be careful whilst slicing because mangoes can be slippery.

Ian says: Without peeling the mango slice away the four ‘cheeks’ from the pit. Score the mango flesh into squares and gently push the cubes apart, then slice them from the skin to get lots of small mango cubes. You can put these straight into the smoothie maker or put them in the freezer and use them later.

Links

You can find out more information on fairtrade mangoes here.

The Sharon Fruit is also known as Israeli Persimmon, Kaki Fruit, Japanese Persimmon, Velvet Apple, and many more names which you really don’t need to know!

Grown mostly in Israel, America and Japan but in other places also, this fruit is light yellow-orange to dark red-orange in colour, varying from 2-8 cm in diameter, can be eaten fresh, cooked, dried or indeed in a smoothie (Result!)

Healthy Stuff

Sharon fruits are high in vitamin A and give you all the vitamin C you need each day (100% RDA)

Buying and Storing

Keep them in a cool dry place until they have started to become really soft, some species will dry your mouth out if you eat when firm (this can be done with sharon and kakki fruit variety as they are ripe even when firm, but Jake suggests letting all varieties go softish) as they are an astringent (can also cause body tissues to shrink, doesn’t sound too nice), the inside will appear stringy and moist when they are finally at their ripest and they will survive being ripe for a few days (always good).

You can buy these from most big supermarkets or at good fruit markets, unfortunately not yet available in Fairtrade

Preparation

Jake says: With a Sharon or Kakki fruit you can just bung it all in the smoothiemaker

Ian says: With other varieties, (or if you don’t like the skin) peel and chop up before blending

Fun Facts

Dried leaves can be used for tea, and persimmons are also used to make vinegar (Wow!). In America a persimmon pie contest is held annually, much like a pumpkin pie and whoever eats it fastest, bakes the biggest, can eat the most (and so on) wins!