Tales from Crete | 55

6 years ago I had the slightly crazy idea to bring home some Greek Christmas oranges from Crete and sell them in our shop. It was a bit exciting to see how the customers in the store would receive the Cretan oranges and how it would go with the transport itself, because after all it is over 3000 km from Crete to Hem, but it went exactly as it should. The oranges landed with one of the large refrigerated trucks from TransCargo, as the Danish carrier was called at the time, but since we had no forklift, we unloaded the boxes by hand.

It was an idea that got attention from the local press, who were good at writing about the "journey" of the Greek Christmas oranges to Hem, and I was really happy when we just rounded up 250 kg of orders and ordered 500 kg home, so there was also a little and sell off to those who had not ordered. The idea then was to start a recurring event where we here in Hem, where we live and have a business, could give our customers the taste experience of the very sweet and juicy Christmas oranges, but we had no idea if it would be a success and how long the freshly picked oranges could last. It turned out that they could last until January and even February if they were just kept dry and cool, and they would still retain the same juice and sweetness.

The following year we repeated the success and took home a few more oranges and it has continued like this for the past six years. In the meantime, fortunately, we got a forklift for unloading, because today we get more pre-orders per day than we did in a month and a half to start with, so it's a lot of oranges we bring home, so the whole family with children and children-in-law are busy packing and delivering oranges and avocados, which we also have now when we holds the annual orange day in Hem on the first Saturday in December, and it has gradually become a big hit.

But what exactly makes the Greek Christmas oranges something very special? - Yes, according to a test carried out by Berlingske Tidende, the best oranges are found in Cyprus and Crete, because they have the best climate here for especially the coveted Christmas oranges. The more sun the more sweetness, just like with other fruits, is probably the simplified explanation.

Of course, there are also particularly excellent oranges from many other countries, but there is something special about the oranges from Crete, I think. They both smell and taste like when you drive through one of the orange plantations down there and maybe just happen to steal a single orange from one of the inviting orange trees. But in sharp contrast to our Danish mentality, an orange farmer will not be angry if you cannot resist the temptation, but more proud, and then the whole thing can suddenly take a completely different turn. Watch this short video and experience the limitless Greek hospitality and maybe you will also be inspired to taste the irresistible Christmas oranges.

Watch the video on YouTube here.