Grapefruit
Grapefruit are the largest citrus fruit and have an assertive sour-sweet flavour. A Caribbean descendant of the pomelo, they are a comparatively new fruit and most of the world's crop is grown in the southern USA.
In the kitchen
For a classic starter, brush halved grapefruits with melted butter and grill. Grapefruit works with chicken, pork, and shellfish such as prawns and crab. Mix in salads with watercress and avocado, with chicory, with olives, or a Thai-style salad. For dessert, segment the fruit and marinate in orange juice, perhaps adding a dash of Campari or Angostura bitters. The fresh juice makes wonderful jelly, sorbet or granita, which you might scent with cinnamon or mint. Grapefruit also makes excellent marmalade.
Varieties
Pink or ruby/red varieties of grapefruit are generally sweeter and look more attractive than the white varieties, which have yellow skin and pale flesh. Note that grapefruit that have yellow skin can have pink flesh.
Preparation
Choose grapefruit that are heavy for their size, with tight skin. Grapefruit are best eaten at room temperature rather than chilled. The pith is bitter so needs removal.
Grapefruit can be segmented like oranges: by peeling, then running a serrated knife down each side of each segment and gently easing them away from the membrane. Alternatively, cut the grapefruit in half across its width and run a curve-bladed serrated grapefruit knife around the circumference, then cut along each side of the segments and lift the membrane out by pulling it from the centre.
