Grapefruit Grousing: Spooned versus Peeled

Izzy adores grapefruit. Whenever I can, I buy organic red or pink grapefruits, slice them in half and then cut the sections with a grapefruit knife so that they may be eaten with a spoon. In this way, one only encounters minimal pith.

I learned to eat grapefruits in this manner because my first stepmother, S., used to serve them this way as appetizers, before dinner. I think it was something that must have been done in the Catskills. Whatever the reason, I would never serve them before dinner. In my house they are meant for breakfast or snacks. And snack on them we do.

Izzy has only known one way of eating grapefruits so when I attempted to serve them a different way, it turned his world upside down. You see the other day I had read that eating grapefruits with a spoon was not as healthful as eating them simply peeled, like an orange. Apparently I was depriving us of tons of fiber, which as we all know, everyone needs.

After school I told Izzy we would have a grapefruit for snack, eaten a new way. He didn't seem adverse to the idea but as he watched me peel it he balked.."That is not an orange. Why are you peeling it? I don't want any pith. I don't like the pith."

Too bad. I continued peeling, removing as much pith as possible. It was an extremely juicy and sweet grapefruit. He managed to eat a few sections but with each bite he became increasingly more upset. Each pithy encounter threw him into a tizzy. He eventually began to cry and he pushed the grapefruit away. I figured something other than grapefruit must have been on his mind but he begged that I NEVER, EVER serve him a peeled grapefruit again.

So much for fiber.