looking for blood oranges close to boston...

has anyone seen them yet? i’ve checked trader joe’s in arlington heights and the somerville market basket without success.

Did you try Eataly?

Open an account on Instacart and/or Mercato, enter your zip code and do a search for them. It will tell you what is available at Eataly, Stop and Shop and some others. You can also search on Whole Foods’ site. Though it will not show what is available in the actual stores, it will give you an idea if they are available yet in your area

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Pretty sure Russo’s has them.

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thanks.

will check that out.

I was going to suggest Russo’s as well. Haven’t looked for them recently though.

I purchased some from Whole Foods River St in Cambridge a couple of weeks ago. As I recall, they regularly stock them every year though this year, perhaps not reliably. I bet Formaggio Kitchen (South End, Cambridge, Kendall) has them as well. They have items in the store that don’t always show up on Mercato. In past years they have had an amazing variety of citrus and so has Arax in Watertown.

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I’ve gotten them from Whole Foods as well inside the last month. But Russo’s is a much nicer place to buy them, haha, and is likely a good bet.

Saw them at the South End Whole Foods this Sunday. If you’re not too far from Milton, I recall seeing them on occasion at the Fruit Center in East Milton square, but admittedly is been a while since I’ve been there.

I agree that Russo’s is a much more interesting place to shop than any Whole Foods. Check the web site…they seem to have online delivery or curbside pick up and they always have a much greater selection of produce than WF. Including what used to be that room over at the side filled with a huge variety of Asian greens and vegetables that are hard to find anywhere else consistently. But I do notice that the online ordering only has what seems to be a rather small fraction of what I’ve seen in the store itself in the past, perhaps because of uneven availability. No blood oranges show up. But I can’t believe they don’t have them. So maybe call? Can they even accept calls? I’m in a high risk group so I won’t be going there myself in the near future. But I love Russo’s so much I more than once have looked enviously at the new-ish condos built across the street…

Years ago I remember in winter seeing an incredible selection of citrus at Arax in Watertown. Sometimes their produce has been past its peak. But they had sour oranges, sweet limes, everything in between.

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FWIW, there are at least two blood orange varieties, Moro and Tarocco. Moro is the one most often available, in the Northeast US anyway, and can be quite acidic. If ever you see Taroccos, snap them up! They are sweeter, less acidic, with a hint of strawberry-like flavor. TJ’s had them one winter, over a decade ago. If memory serves, they were imported from Israel. This is the type I had in Italy 50 years ago, my first introduction to blood oranges. They were unavailable in America then. I was thrilled when finally they appeared here, but SO disappointed at the flavor. It was then that I learned they were Moro and not the superior Tarocco variety.

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thanks for the information.

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(Not that acidic-tasting citrus is so bad… but if you really want acidic, you might as well just get a few lemons, right?)

But I do notice that some of the apple growers and cherry growers are jumping onto “the acidic bandwagon”, going for new varieties that are still sweet but also pack an acidic punch.

Bought them at Trader Joes. Did you check there?

checked there first, mid-december. things have been jammed since. good to know theyve arrived. thanks for letting me know. will pick some up when i finally get there this week.

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Arax in Watertown in the past had lots of varieties of citrus, including sour oranges and sweet lemons…there is a lot of variety out there of different balances of sweet and sour, acid, etc. Some of these are old varieties grown around the equator and are really interesting to compare, so the “bandwagon” could be more of making the heritage varieties more widely available. Market Basket in Somerville has sour oranges or used to; I haven’t been in since the pandemic started.

Today I bought a 2lb bag of blood oranges (Moro variety) at Market Basket. First time this year I spotted any at an MB.

Mentioning on the chance you’re in MB for your regular shopping run and if you want to keep an eye open for them. Of course availability of certain items seems to vary a fair amount depending on which MB location you visit.

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what perfect timing. i’m heading to both trader joe’s and market basket tomorrow.

thanks for the info.

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never made it to market basket today, but picked up a 2-pound bag at trader joe’s. the bag says the flavor is savory berry.

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Yay! Here’s the bag I picked up at MB. Perhaps the source is the same?

image

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