Grocery stores are my favorite.

Even when I am in locations away from home, I visit a grocery store to find things that are familiar to the locals, but may be new for me.

They are one of the places that serve as an equalizer.  People from all walks of life in one place with one goal…to buy food and eat it.  Beautiful.

Now the chore of grocery shopping is another story, one I do not enjoy as much as I do cooking and consuming the food.

But I do enjoy finding new and inspiring things in the sections and I really enjoy when I’m picking up something familiar and a fellow shopper asks, “So…how do you eat/use that?”.  That excites me because I adore when people are excited to try something new to them.  I’m always more than happy to share what I know about an item and give some examples of how to use it.

This very thing happened to me the other day.  I was excitedly picking up some pomelos in the produce section and a lady leaned in a bit and asked the question.  Of course I told her to grab one to try because I really love the flavor of pomelo and they are in season right now, so she would get a taste of the fruit at its best.  After a brief conversation, she was off to finish the rest of her shopping with two (!) pomelos in her cart.  I hope she likes them.

It also inspired me to share these things with you guys and add another aspect to the blog.  And maybe it will make you want to add pomelos to your cart next time you are shopping.  While you’re there, encourage other shoppers to pick one up too.  We’ll start the next food revolution.  Viva los pomelos!

So, let’s look at pomelos compared to other citrus and I’ve got a few tips about peeling and eating them too.  And to finish, a super simple recipe to use our new favorite citrus fruit.

Here’s our new friend pomelo compared to an orange (left) and a grapefruit (center).  Don’t let the size deter you.  A lot of what you see is very thick skin, usually about an inch or so. When choosing one to buy, pick one that seems heavy for its size, smells fruity and almost a little floral. Using a knife, score an “x” in the top and peel like an orange.  The peel should come off easily.  Once peeled, pull apart as if you were about to segment an orange.  You should see where the fruit and the thin skin between the segments is separated. Peel it away from the fruit and discard, leaving just the fruit segments.  It will look like this:

Easy enough, right?  Of course you can eat it as is and it will be delicious.  They are citrusy and sweet but the flavor is more delicate and slightly floral than most citrus fruits. Absolutely fantastic.  If you want to take it a little further, add some sliced strawberries, mint, and finely diced crystallized ginger and mix gently. Drizzle with honey or sprinkle with raw sugar to taste.  Great for breakfast, a snack, or for dessert after a spicy meal.

We had Banh Mi Meatball sandwiches for dinner last night and this would have been the perfect end to cool off after all the Sriracha sauce we like to add.  The recipe for those will be posted soon because they are really tasty and not nearly as hard to make as it might sound.  Until then, eat lots of pomelo and take one to a friend.