Citrus Salad With Pomegranate, Crytallized Ginger & Mint

With a cameo from my latest kitchen knife obsession

Ever since Chanukah ended, all I’ve wanted was light, acidic, tangy, tart, greaseless goodness. The kind of refreshing plate you could have as a full breakfast And so I turned where I always do this time of year—to my citrus collection. All over the shuk right now there are amazing oranges, grapefruits, pomelos, and clementines, perfect for juicing or peeling or slicing or, if you have a little time, suprèming. You know, those gorgeous skinless, pithless segments you’ll often find adorning a dessert at a fine-dining establishment, the kind of finishing touch a pastry chef or their assistant spent time and love getting just right for you.

I actually love creating citrus segments at home, preferably in a quiet kitchen with the company of nothing more than a sharp knife and a cutting board steadied underneath with a damp towel (after you’re done working, you lift the board and use the towel to clean the surface). A cutting board with a channel is helpful to catch little rivulets of juice, but it’s not necessary, while focus and a good edge are.

Lately I’ve been using my new, gift-to-myself Florentine Kitchen Knife. I’ve gotten to know Tomer Botner, the founder, a bit, and I love his story. The knife was his final project at Shenkar, Israel’s prestigious fashion college. It was so successful that he created a company around it, one he now runs from Barcelona. I recently purchased a utility knife with the most gorgeous handle wrapped in muted tones of white, brown, and black. Before even using this knife the experience is one of aesthetic pleasure. Then you lift the knife and realize how heavy your other ones are, and perhaps how your hand might hurt because the handle is too heavy or not as ergonomically dreamy as this one.

Tomer is paying me nothing - I just love this piece of equipment. and I used it to make quick work of slicing off the tops and bottoms of the citrus to make them stable, then working from the top following the shape of the fruit and cutting a teeeeny bit more than you might thing so you don’t have to go back and carve out any white pith left behind. Imagine mimicking the shape of a capital “C” with your hand, and you get the idea of the motion. You start at the top of C and carve your way down to the bottom, rotating the fruit and working around it until the luscious fruit is exposed. Lift the fruit over a bowl and carefully cut between the membranes, letting the segments fall into the bowl.

You can either do the proper thing and tip the juice pooled at the bottom of a bowl into a jar and save it for salad dressings. Ot you can do the right thing and slurp the juice straight from the bowl into your mouth. To the citrus I add thin slices of crystallized ginger, which add a tiny zing and a lovely chewy texture that eventually melts unto the fruit. Lately I’ve been slicing a small lime into the mix; the tart pucker is surprising but doesn’t overwhelm the flavors of the other fruits. A scattering of pomegranate seeds, a drift of fresh mint, and you’re done. In the wintertime, when I serve heavier meals, this is often all I serve for dessert, and everyone’s happy.

Citrus Salad

2 cups segmented citrus of your choice (pink and yellow grapefruit, orange, clementine, lime), from about 2 pounds of fruit

1/2 cup pomegranate seeds

1 tablespoon thinly sliced crystallized ginger

Mint

Gently combine in a bowl and enjoy.