Known as "the little gems of the citrus family", kumquats are not really a citrus fruit… they only resemble one!  However, these little gems are a wonderful detour from the familiar!  Just seven of these tiny orange treats supply 80% of your RDA for vitamin C, which could lower your risk for stomach cancer.

If you’ve ever seen these tiny treats on your grocer’s shelves, your first instinct is to call them tiny oranges.    However, they are as unlike oranges as you can get.

According to the Purdue Web Site:

The fruit is oval-oblong or round, 5/8 to 1 1/2 in (1.6-4 cm) wide; peel is golden-yellow to reddish-orange, with large, conspicuous oil glands, fleshy, thick, tightly clinging, edible, the outer layer spicy, the inner layer sweet; the pulp is scant, in 3 to 6 segments, not very juicy, acid to subacid; contains small, pointed seeds or sometimes none; they are green within.

The fruit has a sweet outer skin and a tart inner flesh.  The fruit can be eaten whole or some people prefer eating only the skin.

The NY Times has even more to say about this pint sized fruit:

 The size and shape of a large olive, the kumquat is like an orange in reverse, with a sweet skin and tart pulp. So you don’t have to peel the kumquat; you simply eat the entire fruit. Thus its brilliance.

Need to add some zest to a salad? No more straining your knife skills by segmenting an orange. Just slice a kumquat into thin rounds and toss them in. Need to add acidity to a braise of pork, duck or lamb? Drop kumquats in whole during the last 30 minutes of cooking. Need an easy dessert? Simmer them in sugar syrup until tender, and watch as they become translucent and deflate like tiny tires as they cool; serve the softened kumquats with cheese. Slice them in half horizontally, dip their ends in egg white followed by a mixture of raw sugar and cinnamon and freeze them. They turn into sweet-tart ice cubes. Or just pile them in a bowl and pass them around after dinner.

So if you see these bite sized fruit on the shelves of your local grocer, pick them up and add a bit of variety to your diet!