Grapefruit Rhapsody, Part 2

Did you know that grapefruit rind is bitter?

Yeah, me too. But I had temporary amnesia. All these great, organically grown grapefruit with a peel that was just going to get tossed in the compost! Not exactly a waste, but eating them would be better! When I saw the recipe in one of my favorite books I was completely entranced by the idea of using something that is usually discarded. As a recycling zealot, I love reuse. I also love trying new things with food.

So I carefully scored the grapefruit peel and pulled it off in sections, saving the grapefruit for another use. (Four days later and we're still eating the naked things.) Then I dissolved sugar in water over medium heat and plopped in the peel and cooked it for a couple of hours until the peel was translucent. It looked beautiful!

And it tasted bitter. Not spit-it-out bitter, but unpleasantly bitter. Bitter obscuring sunny grapefruit joy. Bitter taking the fun out of the experience. Bitter. Maybe it will get better when I roll it in sugar, I thought.

Looks great (albeit somewhat like sugar-encrusted french fries.) But still bitter.

It was at this point, after much peeling and cooking and rolling and even more chagrin that I decided to research further. Typing "candied grapefruit peel" into Google and choosing one of the first three results, I easily found out what I should have done.

Put the peel through at least four boiling water washes to leach out the bitterness. I told papi of my discovery. Oh yes, he says, nodding with recognition. That's what my mother does with the sour orange. He nods some more, happy that he found the answer.

Thanks.

So I peeled more grapefruit. And boiled the peels 6 times, just in case. And cooked them for a few hours. And rolled them in sugar.

Much, much better. Sweet golden tangy goodness, even without the sugar coating.

Soon, I will dip them in chocolate.