Eating an Orange

I have just eaten an orange. If you think that this is nothing extraordinary then you have obviously never witnessed this act. For me, eating an orange is something of a ritual. First, there is selection of the orange itself and of a suitable knife to cut it, remove the peel and then remove the pith. A small serrated blade is my implement of choice…

Then comes a small cut, about 1.5cm down from the stalk angled diagonally into the peel towards the stalk and about 2-3 cm in length. It is absolutely crucial at this stage not to cut into the flesh of the orange (ABSOLUTELY crucial). After this it is a job for the fingers to remove the peel in as large pieces as possible, all the time trying to maximise the amount of pith removed and minimise damage to the flesh. I’d get upset if I broke into the flesh at this point…

Then it is back to knife work, gently scraping and levering any remaining pith away and trying to end up with a minimally pith covered and minimally flesh damage fruit. Something like this…

In truth, the above photographic example (which is from the orange I just ate) is not a perfect example. I have become better recently at slightly relaxing my standards.

Finally, it is a matter of diving in with fingers again, separating out the segments as neatly as possible and eating them as I go along. This is where the reward for my ritual lies, although sometimes there is great disappointment when the orange turns out to be on the dry side or the segments rip open spraying juice all over me and anything else in the vicinity.

Just for the record, the orange I just ate was wonderfully juicy and deliciously flavoured. Well worth the effort.