I was listening to NPR this morning and a produce expert was being interviewed and talked about cara cara oranges being for sale now. The expert said they were pinkish to red, but different than a blood orange. I'd never heard of them before. So I drove over to Trader Joe's and found a bag and bought it.
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| Cara Cara Navel Orange |
We had one navel orange on our own backyard tree, so I picked it and sliced it up and compared it to one of the cara cara navels I bought. The cara cara is redder and smaller. The navel was sweeter than the cara cara which had a less pronounced flavor. The cara cara has somewhat of a floral smell and a slight hint of a fruit punch taste.
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| Comparison of regular navel to a cara cara. |
The cara cara navel was discovered in Valencia, Venezuela in 1976 at the Hacienda de Cara Cara. It is a cross between a Washington navel and Brazilian Bahia navel.
Wikipedia states that the taste is more complex and has notes of cherry, rose petal (the floral smell), orange and blackberry.
I thought the cara cara orange was a little more tart than the navel. It was a fun contrast.
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