ORANGE AND ONION INSALATA Recipe

English word orange in Italian is arancia. Oranges supposedly originated in China and probably found its way to Italy through Arab trade routes. They were known in ancient Rome as early as the first century A.D. but seemed to disappear sometime around the fall of the Roman Empire. The re-appearance began around 1000 A.D. in Sicily and by the 13th century they were cultivated through Italy. At first the orange was used for its flavor and not eaten as a fruit. The Cadillac of oranges is the blood orange grown in Sicily. It has a red pigmented skin and ruby red pulp. The Mediterranean region is perfect for orange cultivation due to a mild climate, sunny weather and good soil and hillsides drainage. Originally all oranges had seeds but the navel orange was developed here in the United States. As time went on, the blood orange variety has adapted well to Northern California climates although producing smaller fruit. It takes about six years after planting before you see the fruit of your labor. It is unlikely you would find blood oranges in a regular market and may have to search out these unique specimens in specialty markets.