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Kumquat fruit

What is the Kumquat fruit? If you read my last post you will be aware that it is used in my East Meets West cocktail, but is anyone aware of it or know much about this small delight? Well if you don't know about the Kumquat ill give you a little insight into what it is, where it originates from and its tasting notes.


Brief history - The Kumquat is a small fruit closely resembling the all familiar Orange. The Kumquat is an oval shaped fruit roughly the size of an olive or prune.They are slow-growing evergreen shrubs or short trees, from 2.5 to 4.5 metres (8 to 15 ft) tall, with sparse branches, sometimes bearing small thorns. The leaves are dark glossy green, and the flowers pure yellow, similar to other citrus flowers, borne singly or clustered in the leaf-axils. The kumquat tree produces 30 to 50 fruit each year. The tree can be hydrophytic, with the fruit often found floating on water near shore during the ripe season.


The plant is native to south Asia and the Asia-Pacific. The earliest historical reference to kumquats appears in literature of China in the 12th century. They have long been cultivated in Japan, Taiwan, the Philippines and south-east Asia. They were introduced to Europe in 1846 by Robert Fortune.


Uses - Kumquats are often eaten raw. As the rind is sweet and the juicy centre is sour and salty, the raw fruit is usually consumed either whole to savour the contrast or only the rind is eaten. The fruit is considered ripe when it reaches a yellowish-orange stage and has just shed the last tint of green.

Culinary uses include candying and kumquat preserves, marmalade, and jelly. Kumquats can also be sliced and added to salads. In recent years kumquats have gained popularity as a garnish for cocktail beverages, including the Martini as a replacement for the more familiar olive. A kumquat liqueur mixes the fruit with vodka or other clear spirit.

Tasting notes - Sweet, tangy, bitter, sharp orange flavours.

Mouth feel - Crunchy, crisp and juicy.