The birthplace of kumquats is considered China, where several types of these citrus fruits are grown, and their common name “kumquat” comes from the South Chinese dialect and means “golden orange”. Fortunella Margarita – a low tree with beautiful glossy foliage and incredibly fragrant flowers. These miniature trees are perfectly adapted for apartment life (an ordinary flower pot is enough for them). And, of course, for the culinary life.
For duck, marmalade and sorbet
Unlike other citrus fruits kumquats not peeled, but eaten whole, because their peel is thin, tender and sweet, but the flesh is sour and not very juicy.
Kumquats are not only good raw. They make wonderful candied fruits, jams and preserves, excellent syrups, liqueurs and liqueurs are made from kumquats, kumquats can even be dried!
But this, of course, is not all: delicious sauces for pork and chicken come out of kumquats, and if you add a handful of mini tangerines to lamb tagine, you get a dish that tastes unique in taste. Caramelized kumquats can be mixed with rice and stuffed with duck and then flamed with Cointreau liqueur. It is also good to put kumquat circles in fruit salads and even in cocktails: they are not only decorative, but also pleasantly flavor drinks and desserts. And also from “golden oranges” you get a refreshing ice cream and a tonic sorbet, especially if you add a little champagne to it.
For presentation and serving
Kumquats can also be used outside of cooking: bright yellow-orange fruits do not deteriorate for a long time and therefore are good for decorative purposes. You can decorate napkin rings with sprigs with kumquats, and the fruits themselves can be poured into a wide glass vase or strung on a long line in the form of beads and laid out on a served table – they will look very festive on a snow-white tablecloth in combination with white or black dishes.
And the last thing: guests will certainly be pleased to receive a jar of golden jam (ladies) or kumquats in cognac (gentlemen) as a present. The recipe for alcohol-based fruits is simple: you need to boil the kumquats in sugar syrup for literally 3 minutes, fill the jars with them, and pour cognac (1: 1) into the remaining syrup, stir and pour the fruit. Gift jars can be equipped with cards with the names of guests and placed on the table next to the appliances, thus combining the pleasant and the useful.