Sensual Food

I’m starting to love grapefruit. At first I bought the jarred kind, as I had never had the “real” thing and hadn’t a clue how to go about properly eating one. I liked the red, only, not just because it is sweeter but it has more….texture, I guess. I don’t know the technical name for the little individual pockets of goodness that make up each segment. But in the red grapefruit, once peeled, those little pockets easily fall apart and you’re left with a mouthful of these gems. I eat my grapefruit slowly, and savor each tiny bit. I roll the segment around on my tongue to break it up. I might try to burst each pocket individually. The grapefruit sees a lot of tongue action ;)

I started out with a grapefruit spoon. I’m not sure why these are the supposed preferred method – all it did was land me with a mutilated mass of pulp and squirts to the eye of acidic juice (not good). I tried cutting each segment individually. I was still wasting precious flesh. Then I discovered that if I cut it into quarters, and then sliced each quarter away from the rind, I could separate the segments away from the membrane by hand. It’s a slow, messy process. I’ll do it at work, but have to be less ‘free’ in how I eat it. No matter what, I end up licking my hand to catch drips, sucking the juice from my fingers as I drop a piece into my mouth. The other day at work I was describing to him the process; the mess; the sensuality of my eating habits with it. I shared a very short and teasing video clip via my phone to him and my partner. Both were mesmerized.

Really, the best way to eat a grapefruit is naked. No worries about sticky juice on your clothes, its much easier to lick, or have it licked, off your skin.

I am usually impatient. This is common fact if you know me. But when it comes to certain foods, I take my time. I gather it all up in one pile to enjoy without interruption. Crab legs, king and dungeness, fall into the category. Crack the legs and pull out all the meat until it’s all empty, and then enjoy. Then there are things like Ferraro Rocher chocolates…The outside layer is chocolate with chopped hazelnuts. I nibble all around, separating it free from the wafer layer below it. Then I work on the wafer, and popping the halves apart to get just the wafer, not the ganache inside. Finally is the thick creamy ganache ball – which I lick and nibble until I get to the whole hazelnut in the center. I clean that off, and then *crunch*, byebye hazelnut. My partner will just toss the whole thing into his mouth. One shot. Honestly I bet that’s the proper way to eat it – there are many things in the culinary world (and I can get a stickler about this with most dishes I prepare) that you are supposed to eat every bit all in a bite. A little of this, a little of that, it all blends together to one harmonious symphony.

Texture though is a big deal to me. I didn’t like the white grapefruit – not necessarily because it’s more tart, but because the texture isn’t like the red. I don’t like pears; not because of the taste but because of the somewhat gritty texture that the flesh has. I will only eat grapes if the skin and flesh are firm and crunchy. I’ll refuse, like a petulant child, to each the soft ones. Certain apples are the same, I don’t like the softer ones like Delicious.

*sigh*

Damn, I’m making a mess here. Can someone help clean the drips off me? I don’t like being sticky for too long….