How to Segment Citrus

For the longest time, I rarely ate citrus. It’s not that I didn’t enjoy oranges or grapefruit, but I really disliked peeling them. So much effort and stained fingers…then once they were peeled, there was still all this white stuff around. I could never get the fruit clean enough from all of that bitter pith.

Then I learned how to segment citrus into “supremes.” It seems silly to call it life changing, but in a way it was. I now eat citrus on a regular basis and love it. If it is a weekend morning, you can rest assured that we will be eating eggs, bacon and grapefruit supremes when in season.

If you have never cut your citrus like this, get ready – you’ll love it too.

1. Using a sharp paring knife, begin by cutting off the top and bottom of your fruit to show the flesh (about a 1/2 inch in on each side).

2. Turn the fruit so that one cut side is flat on the cutting board and stable. Starting at top of the other side, use your paring knife to remove the peel and white pith from the fruit.

3. Continue around the entire fruit until all of the peel and pith is removed. Be careful to cut off as little fruit as possible. When complete, your fruit should look like this:

4. Using the white lines of the citrus membrane as your guide, cut along the edge of the membrane down to the center of the fruit.

5. Repeat on the other side of the segment, cutting out a wedge of fruit. Continue this process for the rest of the citrus segments.

6. When done, all that remains are the membrane and a whole lot of juice. Squeeze the membrane by hand and reserve the juice for a recipe or just a refreshing drink.