The Safest Cutting Method For Sectioning Fruit
Citrus fruit acts as the perfect tangy element to salads, sauces, marinades, and more. Its acidity brightens dishes with its tart sweetness and contrast to fatty and salty elements — and the best part? Citrus fruits are harvested and sold in stores year-round. According to Healthline, incorporating citrus into your diet daily can strengthen your immune system due to its abundance of vitamin C. Citrus fruits are also an excellent source of fiber, are very low in calories, contain high levels of citrate (which can reduce your risk of kidney stones), and possibly have cancer-fighting qualities. Eating this fruit is also thought to improve heart health, help with the elasticity in your skin, potentially reduce the risk of neurodegenerative diseases due to its high levels of flavonoids, and much more.
When incorporating citrus into salads, fruit tarts, galettes, or even crostatas, it's often encouraged to remove the white pith and only add the citrus segments, which requires a sharp knife and can be quite tricky. Luckily, we've got you covered.
Here's how to section fruit without hurting yourself
There's got to be an easier way to remove the white pith when cutting out segments of citrus fruit. With the usual requirement of a super sharp knife, the way you hold the fruit and the knife is very important, as getting this wrong could increase the risk of cutting yourself. According to Better Homes & Gardens, the best way to cut segments from citrus fruit is to start by peeling the fruit, removing as much of the white pith as possible so that you mostly see flesh and the membranes, cutting between the two as close to each membrane as possible and pushing inward to get close to the core. From there, you'll want to turn the knife and cut along the membrane on the other side, cutting outward to extract the wedge. You'll want to repeat this method with the remainder of the fruit. It's important to do this over a bowl so that any extra juice is caught and saved. For a more visual option, check out this video by Serious Eats on how to cut citrus segments.
This method will not only help you to get thicker slices from each segment, but it will also reduce the waste of all that precious juice that gets away, making the absolute most of the fruit.