Calamondins - an extravagant fruit

The calamondin orange, also known as calamansi or by the botanically terms 'citrus mitis' or 'citrus madurensis' is a natural hybrid fruit : think half mandarin orange - half kumquat.

Like kumquats, you can eat the calamondin's sweet peel and all, but the flavor and bite of the calamansi will be way more intense, quite acidic and more sour than the kumquats'!

calamondin orange fruit

Just as a nice, good-to-know little extra, here are some of the many other common names that calamondins are also referred to; this next to their Filipino translation of 'calamansi' :

acid orange / golden lime / calamandarin / calamondin / musk orange / bitter-sweets

The anglicized word that calamondin actually is, comes from the Tagalog word "kalamunding" - Tagalog being the native language of a lot of Filipinos and Indonesians which is where calamondins originate from or at least where they're common and popular.

calamondin tree in my fruitgarden in Marbella

The calamondin orange tree delights garden enthusiasts with its ornamental fruits and also because it's an evergreen perennial tree showing off its lovely leaves all year long.

Calamondans are also known for the fresh citrus aroma they give off when blooming!

The calamansi tree is widespread, especially in southern, mediterranean countries or in the Philippines, Indonesia or even China, where they originally come from; at around 1900 they were being introduced in the US as an "acid orange" and later they conquered Europe.

flowers of the calamondin fruit

The year-round blooming starts with the production of white star-shaped flowers, which will naturally fall off the tree eventually and hence produce fruit. Because: once you have flowers, you'll very soon have fruit too ! !

A nice extra is the fact that these lovely white flowers also are wonderfully fragrant.

lovely white flower on the calamondin tree

tiny dark green calamondin buttons

Afterwards the lovely white flowers turn into these tiny, dark green buttons, cute as can be!

This citrus tree thrives best in places with a summer climate, as many hours of sunlight are needed for being able to give the flowers enough solar energy to produce great fruits.

However, no need to panic if you live in a northern country, as small calamondin trees are for sale everywhere in the world, so maybe you too can get you one and grow some at home!

first intense, deep green fruits of calamondin

Calamondins ripen slowly, changing colors from an intense, deep green to a bright, vibrant orange once ripe. The edible fruit is small (around 4 to 5 centimeters in diameter) and resembles a small mandarine or tangerine. Their skin is very shiny and dotted with numerous small oil glands

color changing from dark green to bright orange calamondins

bright orange sweet tasting calamondin skin

Once the fruit has that vibrant orange color and is ripe, the skin will be very thin, soft and tender and can be easily removed; above all, this skin is edible and tastes very sweet! The flesh or pulp of the calamondin fruit is orange in color, really juicy and tastes very sour -this in great contrast to the ever so sweet skin- but is extremely flavorful nevertheless!!

calamondin jelly homemade with love byTiny

As it is well known that calamondins are especially great for incorporating in baked goods, jams or cocktails, I too experimented some already as you can see in the above picture of a calamondin jelly, and below one of a thicker, more consistent jam. Two totally different recipes by the way, which description you can find under recipes/jams&jellies on this blog.

Since these small oranges are completely edible and have a very acidic, sweet/sour taste they are often used in more exotic types of cuisine, such as the Malaysian f.i.

There they even make spices with them or vinegars or syrups/lemonades just to name some.

Taking it another step further, the fruit is an excellent seasoning and therefore ideal for marinating poultry or fish! Furthermore, calamondins are often processed in the haute cuisine to a gel, used as a garnish on any kind of dishes.

calamondin jam or marmalade byTiny recipe

Next to the many culinary qualities that calamondins have, they're apparently also known for quite some other benefits they might be able to provide you with . . .

In the Philippines the fruit juice is also used to bleach ink stains from fabrics.

It is said that it could also bleach freckles. And even serves as a body deodorant.

Rubbing calamondin juice on insect bites and might banish the itching and irritation.

When taken orally (read: drinking the juice) it's could help you by being a cough remedy.

calamondin or