Orange

Oranges come in two main varieties: sweet or eating oranges, including the California and navel oranges found in every supermarket; and the less often available slightly bitter type, known as the Seville, bitter, wild, or bigerade orange (narenj). The blossoms of the bitter orange are used in Iran for their perfume and for a wonderful jam, called moraba-ye bahar narenj. In cookery bitter orange juice and paste impart a fine, astringent taste to many fish dishes.

Bitter or Seville oranges grew wild along the Caspian thousands of years ago. They were taken to China via the Silk Road, and centuries later, a hybridized sweet orange was returned to Iran by Portuguese merchants. The sweet orange reached Europe in the first, tenth, or fifteenth century, according to various sources, and, ironically, took its Western name from the Persian narenj, or bitter orange, while in Iran, the sweet orange is called porteqal, after the Portuguese merchants who imported it.