Dear Mandarin Oranges, Here’s To Luck, Love, and The Scent of Sharing

In CNY, mandarins carry luck. Yet in the act of peeling and passing, it becomes love. The final blessing? Citrus perfume lingers, too.

There’s something dear about mandarin oranges, could it be how the Lunar New Year luck is enrobed in their vivid orange jackets? Or the intimacy behind sharing a mandarin with your close ones? What then of the sweeter, slightly softer accent it brings when it comes to a drink? In the crowded lineage of orange family, it seems that mandarin shines in quieter brilliance than its siblings.

1. The mandarin as omen

Here’s a thought: mandarin oranges are bred for hands. Markedly in East and Southeast Asia is where its roots bear prosperity, these small-batch of sunshine are intimacy in action when you really look at it. Gestures as small and sincere as when pinching a mandarin orange open is always a moment shared, because it’s always the little things that matter—in Chinese New Year tradition, no less.

Luck by design, you’ll never spot mandarin oranges by themselves; they’re always a two-by-two affair as exchanging in pairs are believed to bring good fortune. Sweet omens like them fit in with the snack tins that never empty and juice boxes queueing in the fridge. By custom, ‘song gam’ in Cantonese hints at giving gold, hence, recognised as a way to share blessings.

2. The quiet pause between peel and pulp

If you’re wired to TikTok—or its poetic page, perhaps you’ve stumbled across poetry wound tight in the act of an orange peel. I suppose it’s where this idea rooted in, or it’s too humbly a tradition in Chinese culture to even be noticed. For the placidity behind each peel, and the intimacy between each pulp, it’s love and luck pass from hand to hand.

Mandarin oranges need no knives to open up; hands will do the work. To some, peeling a mandarin is tough work. It’s juice spurts and pith stuck in your fingernails. Still, the routine when you see to fishing out the plump flesh is rather relaxing. Like an act of slowing down, one quiet minute with this sensory weight in your hands, balanced between rehearsed ease but a touch of urgency, lest the juice escapes.

3. A mist of mandarins

Ever entertain an idea which—like the curl of a mandarin peel, it’s a gesture almost silent and a scent ever so citrusy clinging beneath your skin—a little retaliation for stealing their orange coat. Mandarin oranges are soft sweethearts, after all. Yet there’s no denying how fragrant this little sun is, particularly its tender rind.

Many times, have I found myself undone by my inattention, and discovering accents scribed into mandarin peels was one, too. Somewhere in a bar I can’t recall, with my curiosity intact, the bartender brought me a twist to smell. That single whiff carried a brightness I would not at all have pondered. Such aroma in just one strip, and all he had to do was to twist the peel. That’s when I learnt to never question the role of a garnish in drinks again.

This is for those who yearn a sunny spray that sticks, a perfume with mandarins is noticeably softer. Gentle on the citrus notes, but with an effervescent spark that refreshes in an instant. Toss in some spices and you can catch a warm, woody feel; florals like orange blossoms steer towards a sunlit garland. Curiously, you can even catch green peels’ scent which adds a little more complex nuance to the nose.

Opening photo: Ioana Motoc | Pexels