Ways to Serve Grapefruit -- Harvest to Table

Grapefruits in general are dived into natural types: there are common white or yellow-fleshed grapefruits, and there are pigmented or pale pink to ruby red grapefruits. There are also seeded and seedless grapefruits. Beyond flesh color and seeds, you can generally say that seeded grapefruits are more flavorful than seedless.

Grapefruits have a sharper flavor than oranges. The heat a grapefruit grows in has much to do with how long it takes to reach maturity and ripeness and can affect the sweet-tartness of the fruit. In hot regions, the grapefruit can mature in as few as six to seven months. Grapefruit grown in coastal areas can take as long as 18 months to ripen. Costal-grown grapefruit will taste more tart and have a thicker rind.

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Serving grapefruit

The grapefruit can be served fresh, halved, or segmented as a breakfast fruit with a sprinkling of sugar. It can also be added to green salads, fruit salads, or served with cheesecakes, flans, or sorbets.

Grapefruits are easier to eat if the segments are first loosened with a curved grapefruit knife or serrated spoon. When segments of citrus are separated from the membranes holding them together, they are referred to by some cooks as supremes.

Grapefruit can also be grilled and served with duck, chicken, pork, or shrimp.

Tasty grapefruit toppings

Grapefruit can be sweet and a tad bitter or loud and sour.

Grapefruit is well matched with avocado, Campari, Champagne, crab, fresh ginger, honey, lemon, lime, fresh mint, pomegranate, and brown or white sugar.

To simply eat grapefruit out of hand with a spoon try one of the following toppings for each grapefruit half:

1 tablespoon maple syrup and a dash of cinnamon and nutmeg
Mixture of 1 tablespoon each of apricot jam and peanut butter Mixture of 1 tablespoon each of honey and peanut butter
1 tablespoon molasses or honey
2 teaspoons coffee liqueur
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 tablespoon sherry
1½ teaspoons each of brown sugar and Kirsch
A scoop of your favorite sorbet

Here’s a delicious treat: Blue cheese and grapefruit salad–arugula or mesclun add grapefruit sections, sliced red onion, sliced or cubed beets, and blue cheese.

Did you know grapefruit is the only citrus fruit to originate in the New World—the West Indies? It is thought to be a mutation between a pummelo and another citrus fruit. Grapefruits grow in clusters—just like grapes.

How to prepare grapefruit

Grapefruits are more difficult to peel than oranges. If you want to remove the white pith easily, drop the whole grapefruit in a pot of boiling water. Then remove the pot from the heat and let stand for 3 minutes. Remove the fruit and let it cool. Then peel the grapefruit, and you will see that the pith will easily come off the fruit.

How to choose grapefruit

Grapefruit should be heavy for its size (which means more juice), and quite firm, with fine-textured, tight, shiny skin. Seeded grapefruits are said to have the best flavor and are easier to separate into segments. To the touch, grapefruit should be springy; avoid fruits that are overly soft. The more blush of pink or red on the skin, the deeper the color of the flesh.

How to store grapefruit

A grapefruit will keep for up to two weeks when stored loose in the refrigerator. Don’t leave a grapefruit at room temperature for more than a day or two.

Grapefruit harvest

In the United States, Florida, and Texas grapefruits come to harvest from October through June, and California and Arizona grapefruits are in the market from February through November.

About grapefruit

Grapefruits—which can measure anywhere from 4½-11 inches (11-17 cm) in diameter.

The first recorded mention of grapefruit came in 1750 when it was found growing in Barbados—the easternmost island of the West Indies.

Yearly temperatures average 79ºF (26ºC) in Barbados. That tells you something about what it takes to grow a grapefruit—which is thought to have gotten its start as a cross between a sweet orange and a pummelo, also called pomelo.

Grapefruits grow best in places like Florida, South Texas, Southern California, Arizona, Israel, Argentina, and South Africa. In climates similar to its native region, a grapefruit can ripen in as little as six months. Grown elsewhere, the grapefruit can take a year or even 18 months to ripen.

The grapefruit took its name from the French word for “clusters” which is grappes. Grapefruits grow in grapelike clusters on trees that reach 30 feet (9 m) tall.

The botanical name for the grapefruit is Citrus x paradise.

Related articles:

How to Grow Grapefruit

Planning the Home Fruit Garden

Home Fruit Garden Maintenance

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