Friday, April 3, 2009

Pomelo surprise

Erev Shabbat dinner at the friends' house.

  A perfectly normal-looking oval-shaped pomelo was sitting on a plate. Imagine our surprise when the hostess pulled the [secretly pre-cut] peel upward into a delightful spiral, revealing a cup full of ready-to-eat bite-sized fruit.

 
Some of the segments were left whole for us to work on.
Peeling the thick skin of a big pomelo, getting the segments out unbroken, separating them, removing the membrane around each, and getting a few seeds out is hard work. But oh so worth it! Great taste, unusual texture--a fun fruit.
Each section is made up of juice-filled "little bottles." Well, at least in Hebrew that's what they are called: bakbookon (the diminutive of bakbook, bottle).
They grow in Israel. A few neighbors have a pomelo tree in their yards right here in the village.
.
Shabbat shalom!
.

18 comments:

  1. What a nice and original presentation.
    It could make a good trick for the April Fool's Day, a pomelo peel with nothing inside. I'll keep the idea for next year : )

    ReplyDelete
  2. I love Israel's pomelos, they're the best.

    ReplyDelete
  3. How clever of your hostess! I had to Google "pomelo" as I had not heard of it before. It's very similar to our grapefruit, I think, but from the description probably tastes a bit different.

    ReplyDelete
  4. We have some of these in Florida, although not as plenty as grapefruits and oranges.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Hi Dina! It looks great, but Pomelo is far from being my favourite... ;))
    Loved your picture at Tewilight time!!

    Now, one week working without coming here and you don’t even remember that
    Blogtrotter still exists. But it’s there, even if India 2008 has come to an end… ;)). Have a great weekend!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Hmmmmm... I don’t remember eating these as a child... perhaps we did and I’ve just forgotten. What does it taste like – sweet (like an orange) or sour (like a grape) or neither...?

    ReplyDelete
  7. I read your blog with longing. I hope to again go to Israel. Thank you so much for making me feel so close to your land.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Et Voila!
    Magic....

    Shabbat Shalom & Aloha, Dina

    ReplyDelete
  9. What a nice way to serve pomelos! I almost never buy them, because it is such a hassle before you get to the edible part itself.

    ReplyDelete
  10. No kidding about the hard work!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Here in the Philippines, we call them suha or lukban. They come in pink or yellow and yes, they are absolutely yummy! Kind of difficult for me to describe to those who only know grapefruit.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Shabbat Shalom ( a bit late! Sorry) The pomelo looks a bit like grapefruit, doesn't it? It looks delicieus. Thanks for your comments. I haven't been around much lately, due to spring cleaning which I want to have done before Easter. I did all the cupboards, wardrobes, bookcases and I washed almost all the curtains and net curtains too.( interesting isn't it????LOL)

    ReplyDelete
  13. Dina, I have the same question. It looks somewhat like a grapefruit, but how does it taste? sweet, tart?

    ReplyDelete
  14. Shalom to all and thanks for your fun comments. To try to answer just one question: the taste is sweeter and less sour than grapefruit.

    ReplyDelete
  15. I LOVED seeing this, especially after I posted about it. I can't imagine being able to peel a continuous peel off a pomello. It's so thick and hard! It is very hard work to peel and then separate the slices.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Looks and sounds delicious!

    ReplyDelete
  17. I plantd one too two springs ago . I so very much hope the little tree survives or persistong 6+ year drought.
    I love them too, our friends in the Murray valley fruit district have large citrus orcharda and even grow the hand of Buddha.

    ReplyDelete


Thanks for your comment!
Comment moderation is on so I will see any new comments even on older posts!