So, what is a pomelo? People’s guesses range from a rockmelon to a (very) large lemon. The latter is a warmer guess: pomelo is a citrus fruit closely related to the grapefruit that we all know. The legend says that pomelo is a fruit that was ‘bred free’ in the tropics of Asia that was later crossed with an orange to get the regular grapefruit. Pomelo has a similar smell and taste, however is much sweeter than grapefruit and can be eaten straight without sugar.

How do you know the pomelo is ripe and ready to eat?All the fruit collected for you has ripened on the tree, and is ready to eat. It can keep well out of the fridge and will get sweeter if you let it sit on your kitchen bench for a couple of days.

How do I peel a pomelo?Because of the thick skin, it can be a challenge. The easiest way is to cut the top and bottom of the fruit off with a sharp knife (try not to cut into the flesh) and then scour shallow (3mm-5mm) cuts on the remainder of the skin in the top to bottom orientation. After this you should be able to peel off the sections of the skin relatively easy with your fingers. Now, separate the sections of the fruit, just like an orange. We recommend you don’t eat the sections’ membranes as they are quite tough and bitter. Open each section up and enjoy the juicy flesh that should only carry a faint taste of bitterness.

How do you eat a pomelo?You can eat it fresh, juice it (yum!), use in salads or make marmalade. Different nationalities eat the fruit differently and many eat the entire fruit, wasting virtually nothing. Several of our farmer's Chinese customers told us they soak the white pith in water to get the bitterness out and then use it in their cooking as it soaks up the flavour of the surrounding ingredients. Their Malaysian friend eats the fresh flesh of pomelo, dipping it in a mix of salt and chilli flakes. Many people have told us they make sweets out of the skins: they cut thin layers of yellow skins off, soak and boil them in a few changes of water to get the bitterness out. Then, coat the boiled chunks of skins in sugar and bake them, effectively turning them into bitter-sweet lollies. The fruit we provide you has not been sprayed with pesticides and was not coated in wax, it is all natural, so feel free to give the lollies a go!

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