Originally from south-east Asia, the kalamansi is a very small citrus fruit, two to three centimetres in diameter. It is the fruit of the Calamondin, a tree that blossoms fragrantly and abundantly and prefers dry, high-altitude areas. Vietnam, where high plains and mountains cover two-thirds of the land, is ideal for the Calamondin. A hybrid between the mandarin orange and the kumquat, the kalamansi has a wide range of flavours. Sweet, sharp and aromatic, it evokes mandarin orange, bitter orange, lime and pink grapefruit. More fragile than other citrus fruits, its skin is so thin and delicate that the fruit must be cut from the tree by hand.