WHAT IS A POMELO?

It’s wintertime, which equates to band fruit in my house. Boxes and boxes of tart grapefruit and sweet oranges comingled in a breakfast bowl for weeks straight. Don’t know what I’m talking about? You must not have been lucky enough to have an older sister religiously practice marching in place while belting out tunes on the saxophone. In late fall, local high school marching bands employ students to fundraise with fruit. Check the local high school in your area for more info.

Of-course by the time I finish my band fruit, I’m addicted to citrus and hit the local grocery store to get my fill. This year I was enticed by the Pomelo. Larger than a grapefruit with a greenish yellow rind, I figured this thing had to be tasty.

And for 2 bucks of my hard earned cash, I got fooled.

I sliced open this thing with great surprise to find a rind of 2 inches or so. The pale pink flesh on the inside was about the size of a tangerine and hard to extract as I tried to cut the meaty part out first, followed by my attempt to juice the thing, but this Pomelo was too big to even fit in my hand juicer. I tried the old fashioned way, man power, but the flesh was so tough I could barely squeeze a drop out. In the trash this thing went, and I moved onto a ruby red grapefruit, much discouraged.

Keep reading to find out what this thing is and where it comes from. 

So what is a pomelo? In case any of you are so brave after my description above. A pomelo is native of South and Southeast Asia, where it is popular as a dessert. The taste is described as a mild grapefruit, but it was bland and lacking in my opinion. The peel is sometimes candied and dipped in chocolate, not in this household, or used in a marmalade or stir-fry pork.

Beware of other odd fruit appearances at your local grocery. The tangelo is a hybrid of the pomelo and tangerine. Mandelos are also some pomelo hybrid. I haven’t tried these, and I don’t think I will. It’s all band fruit from here on out for this lady. I hope my affiliation can stay true thru the rest of the winter season, unless of-course my addiction gets out of hand again.