The North Cyprus Pummelo

This is the time of year when the citrus harvest is in full swing in Northern Cyprus. The big trucks trundle along the roads laden down with the most luscious fruit, taking it from the orchards in Guzelyurt North Cyprus to the docks in Kyrenia North Cyprus and Famagusta North Cyprus to be sent to Turkey and onwards. Driving along from Kyrenia to Guzelyurt you cannot miss the acres of citrus groves which were planted in the 1930s when access to the underground water sources was easy. Today the citrus harvest is an important export for this country. Fruit pickers arrive from Turkey during December and continue picking right into April. The grapefruit and mandarins ripen first, then the early variety of orange, followed by later varieties. The workers have to clear the trees with speed as the new blossom for next year's crop is in bloom in April.

Grapefruit, mandarins, lemons and all varieties of orange are also grown in abundance in gardens in Northern Cyprus, but there is one citrus fruit that is nurtured by enthusiastic gardeners who yearn for something a bit different and not often seen: the "pummelo". This is the most amazing fruit, the largest citrus, known as the principal ancestor of the grapefruit. To see it on the tree it looks just like a giant grapefruit and ripens here at around the same time in November. As a luscious food it is known better in its homeland, the Far East. Botanically it is identified as Citrus maxima; the common name is derived from the Dutch pompelmoes. The pummelo tree may be 4 to 13m tall although the trees in Northern Cyprus tend to be dwarfed. Only a few of the large fruits are borne on one tree; up to ten each year. The flowers are fragrant and loved by the bees. The fruit is round, 10 to 30 cms in diameter, greenish yellow or pale yellow, dotted with tiny green glands. The inside flesh is white or pale pink, divided into segments which can be crunchy and quite dry in comparison to the grapefruit. However, the flavour is sweeter and less acid than its namesake. Considering the size of the fruit, the amount of flesh inside is small, but the segments are easily skinned leaving just the pink flesh. The pummelo is native to south-eastern Asia and all of Malaysia; it grows wild on river banks in Fiji and the Friendly Islands. It is much cultivated in southern China, Thailand, Taiwan, southern India, Malaya, Indonesia, New Guinea and Tahiti and is a feature in the Chinese New Year celebrations. It is a near tropical fruit that grows well near the sea and is happy in soil that is saline. Like all citrus trees, the pummelo has to be watered extensively during the hot, dry climate of Northern Cyprus.

The value of this unusual variety of citrus lies mainly in the novelty of seeing these enormous fruits developing on these attractive, small trees. However, the thick pith is ideal for making candied peel, the fruit segments are delicious in fruit salads and anyone interested in counting calories should know that this special delicacy is around 30 calories per 100 gms.

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