Fingered Citron

also called "Buddha's hand"...

('Fingered Citron', ('Buddha's Hand', or 'Buddha's Fingers'; C. medica var. sarcodactylus Swing.); called fu shou in China, bushukon in Japan, limau jari, jeruk tangan, limau kerat lingtang, in Malaya; djerook tangan in Indonesia; som-mu in Thailand; phât thu in Vietnam. The fruit is corrugated, wholly or partly split into about 5 finger-like segments, with little or no flesh; seedless or with loose seeds. The fruit is highly fragrant and is placed as an offering on temple altars. It is commonly grown in China and Japan; is candied in China.)

we saw these fine fruits at the Ferry Terminal farmer's market in SanFrancisco

the market was amazing for the variety and quality of food being offered at new-year's time--one impressive display after another

These citrons were grown by the Hamada Family, who had one of the most beautiful --and friendliest!-- stalls in the market

We were happy to be able to get one of these amazing fruits (hint: don't try to peel it!) and also a beautiful pummelo from their impressive selection


(CITRUS MAXIMA (C. grandis) - Pummelo, Shaddock. A favorite in its original S.E. Asia, it is natural to describe the pummelo in relation to the grapefruit because they are closely related with slightly more frost sensitivity. The size of the fruit is reflected by its botanical name. It is the largest among citrus. It is generally round to pear-shaped with thick skin, firm flesh and a lower juice content than grapefruit. Because of the firm flesh, you do not eat pummelos the same way you eat grapefruit. Instead, you peel the fruit, segment it and shell the edible pulp vesicles out of their membrane. Many varieties exist with yellow, pink or deep red flesh and acid to sweet.)

The only reason we recognized what we were seeing when we saw the Hamada "family's jewels" was because we're avid readers of the CRFG's Fruit Gardener (you should be too!), a journal which is the fortunate recipient of the reports of the "Fruit Detective", David Karp. (a sample of Karp's work: Every Plum Imaginable )
The CRFG isn't just for Californians, that's where it began but you can start a new chapter in your area if there isn't one already
Wherever you live, do take advantage of as much of the local fruit potential as you can! There's a lot more out there than the supermarket knows about

from http://www.incanto.biz/letters_-_sagras.html :

Located in Kingsburg, south of Fresno, Hamada Farms consists of approximately 240 acres of stonefruit, citrus, persimmon, apple, pear, and fig trees as well as grapes and, of course, melons. Each week Mr. Hamada makes the long journey to the Bay Area, offering a wide variety of tree- and vine-ripened fruit for sale at three farmers' markets, including San Francisco's Saturday Embarcadero Farmers' Market.

[For most of his life, Yuk Hamada had been a commercial grower of nectarines and grapes (table and wine), operating a 240 acres farm. Actually, his father had been farming since 1908, but as an "oriental", he was not permitted by California law to own the land until the mid-1940's when that law was repealed.]

As a commercial grower following in his father's footsteps, Yuk for many years sold his nectarines and grapes to packing houses that would wash and sort his fruit, grade it for size and pack it into boxes for sale to wholesalers. The packing house would throw away fruit that was already beginning to ripen because the softer fruit would not survive the week it typically takes to get it from wholesalers to stores and then into consumers' refrigerators. By then, the ripening fruit would be spoiled.

In the late 1980's, Yuk and his wife Yonki decided they preferred to sell properly ripened fruit instead of selling prematurely picked fruit that could never reach its full potential in the cold storage of a mass-market commercial distributor. They began selling their fruit directly through local farmers' markets. Initially, they brought only ripe nectarines. Recognizing the great taste and variety found in less common fruit varieties, Yuk began replanting his farm with between ten and twenty new varieties of fruit each year, specifically for his farmers' market customers. Eventually, the Hamadas "retired" from commercial growing; though now Yuk is working harder than ever in his retirement.

Today Hamada Farms produces more than 75 different varieties of stonefruit, 25 varieties of citrus, 14 varieties of table grapes, and 15 types of apple, pear, fig and persimmon. In addition, Hamada Farms offers 15 different varieties of melon, many of which we proudly feature tonight.

Modern industrial agriculture is about striving for uniformity of plant size, shape, and color and optimizing the crop's yield, harvestability and transportability. In the course of "modernizing" our farms, the economics of specialization and monocrop agriculture have largely defeated the aesthetic of taste and trampled the natural state of polycrop diversity. Though arguably less expensive in the short-term, industrial farming practices have also proven to be the most harmful to our environment. One of the reasons that industrial farmers rely so heavily on chemical fertilizers and pesticides is that single-crop plantings tend to be the most susceptible to attack and the most likely to rob the soil of its nutrients.

The Hamada family stands in stark contrast, representing the very best traditions of family farming: stewardship of the land, dedication, perseverance, sustainability, preservation of tradition, and most importantly celebration of bio-diversity and great taste. By deliberately moving in the opposite direction of modern farming practices, Yuk Hamada and Hamada Farms have enriched our lives and inspired many other small farmers to follow in their footsteps. Farmers like Yuk Hamada remind us of the beauty and fragility of food

Amen to that; and thank you, Hamadas!