Sumo Champion

Move over Owari Satsuma mandarin, clementine hybrids and Pixies, there is a sumo-sized mandarin orange in town that shoves all other contenders outside the citrus ring of size and taste contention. At our local Japanese market were boxes of the huge Dekopon citrus, carefully packaged and wrapped and covered with clear plastic lids to show off their distinctive top-knots (deko means bump and pon refers to ponkan, one of its genetic parents). Originally developed in 1972 in Kumamoto, Japan from a cross between ponkan mandarin oranges (a honey mandarin variety) and kiyomi tangors, it is the most exquisitely sweet citrus I have ever tasted - easy to peel with pith that is not bitter, seedless, firm and juicy flesh that blends intense sweetness with a refreshing aftertaste and perfumed with a rich, mandarin aroma. I have already purchased 2 boxes in one week! Its uber-size, rough, orange skin and bulbous bump at the top looks like something from an alien world, but once you taste it, you will understand why the Japanese are willing to pay as much as $10 each.

Under agreements of confidentiality and exclusivity, a consortium of growers planted 430 acres of Dekopon in California groves in 2008 and this month their first crop is being marketed and distributed by Sunsweet as Sumo Citrus. Three weeks ago, the early-season Sumos already measured 14 degrees Brix (sugar content measurement), but is now expected to rise between 16-18 degrees Brix compared to navel oranges and clementines that are between 11-13 degrees Brix. And as years pass, the fruit should be even tastier as the trees mature. Since the trees are still so young, this year's crop is limited and most will be sold in California such as Whole Foods, Mitsuwa and Nijiya markets for approximately $3 a pound throughout the month of March. Check out updated market listings on the Suntreat website at www.sumocitrus.com as well as David Karp's wonderful article in the Los Angeles Times, Feb. 17, 2011 edition.