Taste bursts from Jeju

A while back, I received a tangerine from Jeju Island.  It was in my fridge for a few days, and the other day, I decided to eat it, thinking it would taste like an ordinary tangerine.  I don't know why I am prompted to write about how sweet and juicy this tangerine was, but it left its taste imprint in my mouth the whole day.  I walked outside to find that the winter clouds had disappeared and there was sunlight everywhere.  So many coincidences that give us signs and symbols.  In any case, I guess, in the end, while I ate this tangerine, I thought to myself, if I had another tangerine, I would give it to someone else to try.

(Excerpt from Yann Martel's "Beatrice and Virgil")
VIRGIL: The taste of a good pear is such that when you eat one, when your teeth sink into the bliss of one, it becomes a wholly engrossing activity. You want to do nothing else but eat your pear. You would rather sit than stand.  You would rather be alone than in company.  You would rather have silence than music.  All your senses but taste fall inactive.  You see nothing, you hear nothing, you feel nothing---or only as it helps you to appreciate the divine taste of your pear.

BEATRICE: But what does it actually taste like?

VIRGIL: A pear tastes like, it tastes like... (He struggles.  He gives up with a shrug.)  I don't know.  I can't put it into words.  A pear tastes like itself.

BEATRICE: (sadly)  I wish you had a pear.

VIRGIL: And if I had one, I would give it to you.

(Silence.)