Checking out the fruit section in the local greengrocer, a new type of orange caught my eye. Marked as a ruby blood navel, the skin had a hint of the blood orange's blush and intrigued, bought some to try.

Recent years has seen an increase in new varieties of apples, such as pink ladies and fuji, however, there doesn't seem much new in the way of citrus fruit, so it was exciting to see something a bit different from the same old navel and valencia oranges.




Cutting the fruit reveals a gorgeous soft ruby coloured flesh, sort of halfway between the blood and navel orange. The taste was the real revelation, amazingly sweet and not overly acid.

I needed to know more about this superb orange.

Now you'd think in the middle of an orange glut after many years of drought, orange producers would be happy to inform the public about their products, especially at this time, which has been declared orange week by Citrus Australia, whereby we are all being encouraged to eat more oranges to help our growers get back on their feet.

It would be kind of nice if the producers would reply to email enquiries, but I was very grateful to Sarah Robins for supplying me with information.

Now the name ruby blood navel doesn't exactly trip off the tongue, but it seems to be one and the same as a Cara Cara, an orange first discovered at the Hacienda de Cara Cara in Venezuela in 1976 and Australia now produces 2000-3000 tonnes annually.

The supplied tasting notes suggest,'...subtle undertones of cherry and delicate hints of rose and blackberries.'

According to a recent Citrus Australia interview, we cannot compete with the cheaper Brazilian concentrate that supplies most of the orange juice in the supermarkets. What they'd like us to do is eat more oranges or make our very own superior fresh juice.


Well, you all know me well enough to realize that there's a little extra something going into my juice, they did say to drink! I like a good vodka and orange, but made with ruby blood navels, it was the nicest Screwdriver I've ever had.

If you'd like to try them, you'll need to hurry as the season goes from mid-to-late June through to mid-to-late August.

Go on, they're sensational.