Orange Juice- a topic of interest to me re: Portuguese Camino

[shefollowsshells]

After just watching a video John found for me here it mentions exactly what I thought the whole time I was in Portugal.
So many beautiful orange trees but difficult to be served a fresh glass of orange juice, or even a carton of regular (more natural tasting) orange juice.
I found when places included breakfast the orange juice was very fake, "Tang" like in taste...
Wondered why, even in wonderful establishments it seemed to be difficult to get a orange juice that tasted more natural.

 

[jungleboy]

So many beautiful orange trees but difficult to be served a fresh glass of orange juice, or even a carton of regular (more natural tasting) orange juice.

I'm not sure if you can find this in the smaller towns and villages on the camino, but here in Lisbon, the two major supermarket chains (Pingo Doce and Mini-Preço) both have machines for freshly squeezed orange juice. You just take an empty bottle of the size you want, put it under the machine, turn the handle and watch the oranges come down from the basket above, get sliced in two and then squeezed into your bottle.

 

[shefollowsshells]

Yes! Not really speaking of grocery stores, that is where I would find my orange juice needs!
I'm also not really putting the emphasis on the fresh squeezed as much as I am surprised that the orange juice of choice in breakfast places was not a natural orange juice taste to me. They tasted very fake, like a drink from my childhood known as Tang.
I might have brought this up before, but watching this video just now I notice he says the same...
I do know that I by accident I bought the wrong orange juice in the grocery stores often ...

 

[Anniesantiago]

I found fresh OJ all along the route, myself.

 

[trecile]

The term "zumo" comes from a brand of juicing machine - actually Zummo. Many bars in Spain have zumo machines and will make fresh juice.

Really? I thought that there were two words for juice in Spanish, and that in Spain the preferred word is zumo, while in the Americas it is jugo. I was told that in Spain jugo refers to the "juice" from meat, like jus in French.

 

[Hiawatha]

The '' Tang '' is usually an indication of the use of reconstituted orange concentrate powder ,at least in part if not all . This has added ascorbic acid which provides the tangy aftertaste . It sounds counter intuitive to be adding what is essentially Vitamin C to Orange juice however in these instances its purpose is as a preservative and anti oxidant .

 

[C clearly]

Really? I thought that there were two words for juice in Spanish, and that in Spain the preferred word is zumo, while in the Americas it is jugo. I was told that in Spain jugo refers to the "juice" from meat, like jus in French.

Thanks for this good question. I admit that when I read/heard the explanation, I accepted it at face value, since the word "zumo" was unfamiliar to me as I learned my Spanish in South America many years ago. Now I have done a bit of research and should retract my statement. According to one source I've found, the word "zumo" comes from Greek and Arab. (Likely the machine was named after the word, not the other way around.) There seem to be regional differences - zumo in Spain, being an example. And "zumo" tends to be extracted by pressure, rather than, say, cooking.

I'll delete my previous post.

 

[Darby67]

Really? I thought that there were two words for juice in Spanish, and that in Spain the preferred word is zumo, while in the Americas it is jugo. I was told that in Spain jugo refers to the "juice" from meat, like jus in French.

That has always been my understanding as well. Huge fan of those fresh juice machines in Spain. Do they not have them in Portugal as well?

Taken a step further certain juices also have their own name such as grape juice, mosto. The Spanish version is not sickly sweet and made with Vitus vinifera, wine grapes. Definitely not Welch's!

 

[jungleboy]

According to one source I've found, the word "zumo" comes from Greek and Arab.

I had thought that the word for orange in Spanish/Portuguese (naranja/laranja) also came from Arabic. But now I'm reading even more interestingly that the word for orange (the fruit) in Arabic/Greek/Persian is basically 'portugal'. This makes some sense as it was the Portuguese who brought oranges from China to the Mediterranean. They also brought another similar fruit and planted it in their colony on the northern tip of today's Morocco. We get our name for that fruit (tangerine) from that place (Tangiers).

 

[Darby67]

I had thought that the word for orange in Spanish/Portuguese (naranja/laranja) also came from Arabic. But now I'm reading even more interestingly that the word for orange (the fruit) in Arabic/Greek/Persian is basically 'portugal'. This makes some sense as it was the Portuguese who brought oranges from China to the Mediterranean. They also brought another similar fruit and planted it in their colony on the northern tip of today's Morocco. We get our name for that fruit (tangerine) from that place (Tangiers).

So interesting! Your post got me more curious. So the Valencia orange that I remember being used was actually a portokali!

 

[jungleboy]

So interesting! Your post got me more curious. So the Valencia orange that I remember being used was actually a portokali!

Cool link! Among other things, it says this: alteration of Arabic naranj, which supports what I had originally thought about the ESP/POR naranja/laranja. So it's possible that the Spanish and Portuguese took the original Arabic word for orange, but then the Arabs changed their word and named it after Portugal.

Getting off-topic now, but I'm currently writing a tour of Lisbon and I want to include some things about the Muslim period and Islamic legacy in Portugal today, and language is an obvious place to start because unfortunately the physical remains of the Muslim period in Portugal are nothing like what they are in Spain. Here's part of it:

About 1000 words in Portuguese are derived from Arabic, including a lot of place names. In Arabic, the definite article, corresponding to the English the, is al, which which you can see in Arabic words like al-Jazeera, for example. And many of the Portuguese words derived from Arabic still have this al, or a trace of it, at the beginning of the word.

Some obvious examples: Alfama (the most famous of Lisbon's historical neighbourhoods - derived from the Arabic word for baths, al-hamma); Algarve (which comes from the Arabic word al-Gharb, meaning the west), alface (lettuce - people from Lisbon are often called alfacinhas or 'little lettuces', because apparently a lot of lettuce was grown here during the Muslim period).

 

[Camino Chrissy]

I found fresh OJ all along the route, myself.

This is good news to me. I loved the fresh OJ in Spain, and hope to find it along the way in Portugal when I walk that route in late April...so after all these posts, what is the actual name in the Portuguese language when I make my request to prevent getting fake or concentrated as I dislike both!

 

[jungleboy]

This is good news to me. I loved the fresh OJ in Spain, and hope to find it along the way in Portugal when I walk that route in late April...so after all these posts, what is the actual name in the Portuguese language when I make my request to prevent getting fake or concentrated as I dislike both!

Sumo de laranja natural.

Edit: Or 'sumo natural de laranja' per the pic below.

 

[jungleboy]

I'm not sure if you can find this in the smaller towns and villages on the camino, but here in Lisbon, the two major supermarket chains (Pingo Doce and Mini-Preço) both have machines for freshly squeezed orange juice. You just take an empty bottle of the size you want, put it under the machine, turn the handle and watch the oranges come down from the basket above, get sliced in two and then squeezed into your bottle.

And a photo to illustrate this:

 

[Bert45]

What got to me was how expensive a small glass of OJ, fresh squeezed, was in bars and cafés. Considering how cheap oranges were, especially bought in bulk, the mar-up must be terrific!

 

[C clearly]

What got to me was how expensive a small glass of OJ, fresh squeezed, was in bars and cafés. Considering how cheap oranges were, especially bought in bulk, the mar-up must be terrific!

I don't know. Think about the purchase, maintenance and cleaning of that machine, which is not a cheap appliance. Each glass of orange juice requires that the oranges be cut (for some machines) and placed, the counter wiped and hands rinsed off. At the end of the day, cleaning must be a chore. The cost of the oranges must be the least part.

 

[Jacobus]

After just watching a video John found for me here it mentions exactly what I thought the whole time I was in Portugal.
So many beautiful orange trees but difficult to be served a fresh glass of orange juice, or even a carton of regular (more natural tasting) orange juice.
I found when places included breakfast the orange juice was very fake, "Tang" like in taste...
Wondered why, even in wonderful establishments it seemed to be difficult to get a orange juice that tasted more natural.

Hi
In Porrino at the hotel we were told breakfast was included in the charge for the room. Orange juice was emphatically excluded from the menu offered. In the morning there was a “cool aid” sized jug of fresh squeezed oj visible through the glass doors of the drink cooler.
When I went to fill my water glass the waitress stepped in front of me and said I couldnt have juice. Remeniscent of a Saturday night live sketch about the soup nazi...my Italian friends and I found it quite humorous and orange juice was a topic of our banter the rest of the way!
Thanks for the memory

 

[JCLima]

I don't know. Think about the purchase, maintenance and cleaning of that machine, which is not a cheap appliance. Each glass of orange juice requires that the oranges be cut (for some machines) and placed, the counter wiped and hands rinsed off. At the end of the day, cleaning must be a chore. The cost of the oranges must be the least part

And you need quite a few oranges just to get one glass of juice.

 

[Amich]

On the Costa del Sol there is a supermarket called Mercadona which has the fresh juice machines in the produce section. I think a liter of fresh juice was only 3.5 Euros which included a sturdy reusable bottle.

 

[thetimman]

Really? I thought that there were two words for juice in Spanish, and that in Spain the preferred word is zumo, while in the Americas it is jugo. I was told that in Spain jugo refers to the "juice" from meat, like jus in French.

That is correct.

 

[Amich]

In Costa del Sol Zumo de Naranja

 

[jungleboy]

Yesterday at the Casal Santa Maria vineyards near Sintra, part of the western-most vineyards in continental Europe.

 

[Alfis]

Oh, I love orange juice. I've had to buy a citrus juicer to make fresh orange juice almost every day.
Very nice thread, I now wish to visit Portugal someday☺

 

[Friend from Barquinha]

And you need quite a few oranges just to get one glass of juice.

We've been having it every morning since we've been here--we have a tree, and the oranges are ripe--and it takes 8-10 oranges for two reasonable-sized glasses of juice. The cafes with machines go through a lot!

 

[jungleboy]

An orange orchard/grove near the Roman ruins at Milreu, near Faro in the Algarve, taken last week:

 

[wjohnk]

Last September we walked the Portuguese Coastal Route. Freshly squeezed orange juice was easy to find and we consumed a lot of it.

 

[jungleboy]

Bumping this thread to share a link for a story I published today for anyone interested that includes some of the topics discussed above and some nice photos of oranges!

Travels in Orange Lands (Medium)

 

[Camino Chrissy]

Bumping this thread to share a link for a story I published today for anyone interested that includes some of the topics discussed above and some nice photos of oranges!

Travels in Orange Lands (Medium)

Great article, Nick! I absolutely loved the super sweet, fresh squeezed orange juice in Spain and Portugal! I have never had as good a glass in the USA and have no idea "why" that is...oh well, I'll just have to wait until I have opportunity to go back again!

 

[oursonpolaire]

Great article, Nick! I absolutely loved the super sweet, fresh squeezed orange juice in Spain and Portugal! I have never had as good a glass in the USA and have no idea "why" that is...oh well, I'll just have to wait until I have opportunity to go back again!

While I gather that orange groves are beginning to disappear from Florida, when I was last there (writing from Canada) as my mother's driver, I had a long conversation with a retired grower who told me that there were about four commonly-sold varieties in supermarkets, but another six varieties could be found seasonally in orange-growing areas-- some of them travelled poorly. Most oranges for sale in the Us were table oranges, and juice oranges were industrially processed and usually made into concentrate, and the concentrate reconstituted for orange juice in cartons. This made shipment much cheaper and there was no worry about orange damage or spoliage. He wrote out a list of these varieties for me (since lost, so I'm no help) but a fruit importer in Montréal told me to look for thin-skinned oranges or those labelled juice orange. I have found this serves me well for making orange juice at home, and it's almost as delectable as the glass of zumo which, twinned with a cafe solo, would fuel me for another 8km.