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Monday, January 9, 2012

Spot the difference

In a previous post, BBQDude asked how to tell the difference between a kumquat and a calamondin. For one thing, the two fruits are texturally quite different, you can tell just by feeling them. Let's take a look at them up close.

Looking at a calamondin and a kumquat.
Kumquats have these very large cells on their rinds, which contain the aromatic oils characteristic of citrus fruit. 
The cutaways are even more revealing: the calamondin is full of soft juicy pulp. Note the relative size of the seeds - although these fruits are quite small, the seed size nearly match those of the much larger lemon or orange.

In contrast, a kumquat has almost no pulp to speak of. In fact, what is prized for the kumquat is the rind, which is, peculiarly enough, quite sweet. And gets sweeter with extended chewing. 

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