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Clementines, mandarins and tangerines

Broadcast Date: Dec. 1, 1988

Small, seedless, juicy and with a peel that even a child can remove, clementine oranges are a sweet reminder that the holiday season is upon us. Grown in Spain or Morocco, they're a popular import in eastern Canada, while in the west, the similar but larger mandarin orange dominates. But, as greengrocer Pete Luckett warns in this 1988 CBC-TV clip, don't confuse either with a tangerine, notable for its abundant seeds and inferior flavour.

Clementines, mandarins and tangerines

• In the early 20th century, oranges were a rare Christmas treat for many families in Canada. P.E.I. storyteller David Weale writes:

• "For children who ate oatmeal porridge for breakfast virtually every day of their lives, and had molasses on bread most days in their school lunch; for children who looked at fried potatoes almost every evening for supper and considered turnip scrapings a special evening snack; for these children an orange was a marvel, something almost too wonderful and prized to be eaten – an exotic, sensuous wonder."

Clementines, mandarins and tangerines

Medium: Television

Program: Midday

Broadcast Date: Dec. 1, 1988

Commentator: Pete Luckett
Host: Peter Downie

Duration: 2:01

Last updated:
Sept. 8, 2009