Simple yet Difficult

Photo © Rob Jones

An idle conversation the other day….

“What’s your favourite fruit?”

I paused. A very long time. Because I couldn’t work it out in my mind. I was torn between the usual suspects of Strawberries, Apples, Oranges etc, and the fanciful, the Kiwis, Persimmons etc.

Then I answered, and it surprised me.

“Grapefruit”

Looks of bemusement around the room. Even I was bemused. But the response clearly came from the heart or soul, wherever fruit appreciation lives.

Then of course I had to justify it.

As a child I had a love hate relationship with Grapefruits. They were served, halved, and sprinkled with sugar. They were bitter and made me wince.

Later, I became slightly addicted to Grapefruit Juice, especially at hotel breakfasts, even though they make everything else taste bitter. There are very few things it can be paired with, according to the experts. Some surprising ones in the mix - Avocado, Blue Cheese, Cinnamon, Juniper, Orange, Pineapple, Pork, Shellfish and Watercress.

So what is this? A love hate relationship.

More recently I have gravitated to Pink Grapefruits as my grapefruit of choice.

But what of the other fruit I have offloaded into the shoe box marked Cinderella Fruit?

Well… Apples are ordinary. And horrid if you get powdery ones. Although I do like apple sauce. Oranges are lovely but increasingly the supermarkets seem to be selling less tasty ones, less sweet. I like Kiwi but have a moral dilemma everytime whether to eat the skin.

Plums are hit and miss. Strawberries likewise. And they need accomplices like cream.

Things like plums, blackberries, blackcurrants, blueberries, apricots I like in Jam.

Raspberries probably my second favourite - but only if I am picking them and eating them directly from the canes.

So Grapefuit it is.

Rob + Grapefruit 4 Ever.

RJ