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Grape-fruit Served in Slices
One large grape-fruit can be made to serve four people at luncheon by cutting it into thick slices like a watermelon, removing the fibrous core in the center and filling the space with any fresh fruit at hand, such as strawberries, peaches, or shredded pineapple. Have all well chilled before serving.
A serving idea rather than a cooked dish, and it stands up well — the only real work is cutting and chilling. A few notes on what has changed since grapefruit was a luxury item.
- Choose the fruitRuby and Star Ruby varieties, both developed later than this recipe, are markedly sweeter than the white grapefruit the author is likely to have had in mind, so any sugar you might be tempted to add is often unnecessary.
- How to cut itSlice across the equator into rounds about three-quarters of an inch thick, so each slice shows the segments in a wheel. The recipe's stated yield is four servings from one large fruit; the domed stem and blossom ends are best trimmed off and are not worth serving.
- The fibrous coreThis is the central pith column where the segment walls meet. A small round cutter, an apple corer or a paring knife takes it out cleanly and leaves a neat well for the filling.
- Rind and membraneThe recipe leaves the peel on as a natural cup, which is tidy but means eating with a knife and fork. If you would rather serve it spoonable, cut the peel and white pith away before slicing and loosen the segments from the dividing membranes, which carry most of the bitterness.
- Chilling"Well chilled" is the recipe's own instruction and worth following; cold mutes the sharpness of grapefruit. Two hours in the cold is enough; assemble the filling at the last moment so berries do not weep.
- FillingsStrawberries, peaches and pineapple are the author's seasonal suggestions; raspberries, pomegranate seeds, halved grapes and diced melon all work. Drain any canned fruit well or the slices swim.
- A drug interaction worth knowingGrapefruit interferes with the metabolism of a long list of common medications, including several statins and blood-pressure drugs. It is worth asking before serving it to guests, which is not a caution the original author would have had to think about.
Grapefruit arrived on American tables late — it was still being described as a novelty in the 1880s and only became an everyday breakfast fruit as Florida and Texas plantings expanded around the turn of the century, aided by refrigerated rail cars. That newness explains the slightly instructive tone here: readers are being shown what to do with a fruit many had encountered only halved and sugared. This entry is economy of a particular kind — not salvaging yesterday's dinner but stretching one expensive imported-seeming fruit across four luncheon plates by padding the center with whatever cheaper fruit is on hand.