grapefruit and black pepper - am I the only one?

[chezdy]

I love grapefruit and freshly ground black pepper! Has anyone else tried it? SO GOOD!

[odkaty]

Tried it the other night. It was good, but not great. Re-tried yesterday, and added salt. Fantastic!

[woodleyparkhound]

I tried this yesterday. Very nice combination! I would never have thought of it if I hadn't read this thread!

[Krislady]

I tried it this weekend too - I was quite happy.

Now I've gotta do a grapefruit and black pepper sorbet.

[LTL]

I haven't yet tried this combo, but am excited to soon.

Your comment reminded me of the time I was at a local ice cream shop in Montreal. They offered strawberry and black pepper ice cream which was absolutely divine and all my friends thought I was nuts when I told them about it. This thread has made me feel somewhat normal :P Perhaps strawberries sprinkled with crushed black pepper would be good too....

[Tripeler]

I tried that at breakfast the other morning.
Sections of pink grapefruit with a dash of freshly ground black pepper.
I was really looking forward to it, but after a taste it really didn't do too much for me.

[celeryroot]

Also nice with some star anise

[John E.]

I love black pepper and get grief because I put it on pizza and popcorn. It has not occurred to me to put it on grapefruit. My father has a ruby red grapefruit tree in his yard in Arizona. The next time I'm down there I'll see if he will try it with freshly cracked pepper.

[debbiel]

I love black pepper on popcorn!

[debbiel]

I've had a grapefruit margarita with black pepper on the rim of the glass. It was absolutely wonderful!

[bushwickgirl]

Nice, nice, nice.

[mariacarmen]

oh that does sound good! i had a Ruby Grapefruit and Vodka once on the rocks (does that have a name??) and it was delicious and so refreshing, and would be even better with the pepper rim. yum.....

[John E.]

Grapefruit juice with either vodka or gin is a greyhound. If the rim of the glass is salted, it is called a salty dog and I suppose with black pepper on the rim it's a pepper dog.

I tried the grapefruit and black pepper thing since my last post and while like black pepper a lot, it didn't really do anything for me on grapefruit.

[bushwickgirl]

This happy thread made Chowhound's Home Cooking digest this week. Cheers to all who have posted here, for making Chowhound a better place.

[chezdy]

How cool! Where can I see it?

[rworange]

At the top of the page, under the word "Chowhound" there is a tab that says Digest. This has all the SF, NY, LA, Boston, Home Cooking and General topics digests.

Here's the direct link to the grapefruit article
http://www.chow.com/digest/70632/grap...

The Digest picks the top tips of the week and summarizes the topics selected. You can sign up to have any of the weekly digests emailed to you by clicking on the nesletters link on your profile page and selecting the ones you like.

Even though I don't get to some of the cities like LA often,I signed up for all the digests. They are nice to have if you are traveling to those cities on business or vacation.

[monpetitescargot]

i love the flavour combination of something sort of spicy with something fruity.

one of the few good dishes i ever had at can can in richmond, va was a slice of raw salmon with dehydrated grapefruit segments, lavender oil and a healthy sprinkling of black pepper.

green apple + black pepper is another favourite of mine.

[liu]

Hi, monpetitescargot!

"...the flavour combination of something sort of spicy with something fruity."

I like that, and, for me, there's also something adventurous about the texture contrast if you coarse-grind the pepper. It's much about the crunch with the slippery grapefruit sections!

[odkaty]

I'll have to try that ... pineapple with lime juice and tons of black pepper is a favorite in our house.

[Krislady]

Okay - I'm in. I'll pick up grapefruit at the market tomorrow. I usually just peel and eat grapefruit like an orange, but, you know, I guess I can use silverware. In the name of science and all. :)

[rworange]

Why not just sprinkle some pepper on the piece of grapefruit before eating it? No need to go all upscale with silverware.

[mariacarmen]

i would think the pepper wouldn't stick to the fruit as well, because the juicy inside isn't exposed...

this has made me re-addicted to grapefruits, with and without pepper! we are all running up grapefruit stock.

[rworange]

Ah ... I usually peel off the bitter membrane. I found black pepper, but no grapefruit ... sob.

[mariacarmen]

wow, that's even more effort than cutting out the sections, isn't it?
wah, sorry for you..... but you'll be home soon enough!

[rworange]

When I have the choice, I get the grapefruit with the looser membrane so it is easier to peel off. Also, I'm not a purist. If some of it doesn't peel off, that's ok, I eat around it.. Then I don't need a spoon or kniive.

I often wonder though how they do it for that jarred grapefruit. They can't possibly be hand-peeled.

Paiz, one of Wal-marts supermarkets, had grapefuirt a few months back. Weird, huh? A country without grapefruit. There are so many oranges, lemons and limes, until this thread I didn't think about them. I looked through all my Guatemalan cookbooks and not one mention of anything with grapefruit.

[mariacarmen]

i think there must be some heat or chemical process to jarred grapefruits, like mandarin oranges, right?

yes, a bit curious....

[pbo2444]

Just tried it...excellent!

[Just Visiting]

Tried it last night. Thanks for the tip - it was really good. In fact, I really prefer it to plain grapefruit.

[magiesmom]

I love this and have eaten it since childhood. also love pepper on cantelope and watermelon.

[bbqboy]

You aren't the only one:
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/568646

[liu]

Hi, chezdy!
I am going to try it tonight! It does sound good.

I found a pepper mill that I love and I have been grinding pepper on everything. Thanks for the idea!

[liu]

chezdy, I ground quite of bit of coarsely ground pepper on my grapefruit half tonight. I was anticipating VERY weird, but it wasn't weird at all. It was really tasty! I liked the bite of the pepper against the juiciness of the fruit. I liked the spicy crunch as it played with each smooth grapefruit section.

Thanks! This was a pairing I NEVER would have created on my own.

[chezdy]

glad to help spread some deliciousness in the world! :)

[Rasam]

I have eaten grapefruit with salt and red chili powder (delicious) and grapefruit with chaat masala (also great).
Never tried with plain black pepper, but will do so and report back. Sounds good though.

[4Snisl]

I grew up eating grapefruit segments tossed in salt and pepper before I tried it with sweetened with sugar. I'll give it a whirl without the salt. :)

[mariacarmen]

alright, i did it, and the verdict is YUM. something about the bite of pepper that goes well with the bittersweetness of the fruit. of course, as soon as i tried it my sister reminded me that we had had some similar type of preparation by Daniel Patterson at Coi, here in SF. as i recall, it was something you ate but also something you dabbed on your wrist, so that you could smell it too! it was delightful, now that i remember it. so, chezdy, you and Daniel Patterson - great minds think alike. by the way, i did ruby grapefruit, since i like it better than the regular one.

[chezdy]

Glad you liked it! I also use the ruby grapefruits and love to drink the peppery juice left over at the bottom of the bowl...hmmm....perhaps summer will bring peppered grapefruit granita? (drool:)

[cocktailhour]

A classic gelato place in Houston has served grapefruit with pink peppercorn gelato since the 80s, so you are in good company!

[chefathome]

I just love crushed pink peppercorns on fruit and make a killer pink peppercorn syrup but must confess I have not yet tried peppercorns on grapefruit. I bought some this morning so I can!

[rworange]

Emeril Lagasse's recipe for grapefruit sorbet with black pepper ... from Martha Steward Living "The black pepper complements the sweetness, but it doesn't hit you right away. Instead, it lingers lightly at the back of the tongue"
http://www.spicysaltysweet.com/2009/01/28/grapefruit-black-pepper-sorbet/

Another recipe for black pepper/graefruit sorbet. The blogger candied the peals ... too bad she didn't add black pepper to that. I've had citrus chocolates with black pepper and it is a good combo
http://www.spicysaltysweet.com/2009/01/28/grapefruit-black-pepper-sorbet/

A grapefruit, black pepper and ginger granita
http://www.tastebook.com/recipes/2468970-Grapefruit-Granita-with-Black-Pepper-and-Ginger

This person sprinkled black pepper on grapefruit muffins
http://www.examiner.com/cooking-in-orlando/florida-grapefruit-muffins-recipe

This might be the dish from Coi
Pink grapefruit ginger tarragon black pepper
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/7581...

I'll have to try the virgin grapefruit sprinkled with black pepper ... when I have access to grapefruits ... and black pepper.

[sedimental]

I love grapefruit in my green salad and I use alot of fresh ground pepper on it! Yum. Never tried it by itself like that. Interesting.

[chezdy]

maybe I should clarify - you cut a grapefruit in half and grate pepper over it - eat as you normally would. YUM!

[mariacarmen]

oh ALRIGHT, I'LL TRY IT! ( :
but this better not turn out to be how some people put salt on their fruit. which i hate.

[bushwickgirl]

That's right, mariacarmen, you take one for the team! I'm not sure about grapefruit, but I do like freshly cracked black pepper on oranges, pineapple or various melons.

[mariacarmen]

i'm going to the store shortly and will report back soon.

[Bob W]

Honeydew! A nice slice of prosciutto, too.

[bushwickgirl]

And cantalope. Strawberries are nice with a light sprinkling of black pepper btw.

[mariacarmen]

and balsamic - yum.

[chezdy]

hmm. I must be the only one..yer all missing out! :)