Originally published on June 3, 2015
When I first started thinking of garnishes for the blog, to be honest, I didn’t know if it was something that was really worthwhile. But as time has marched on and I’ve found more and more pretty and delectable garnishes, I’ve found that it’s truly got some merit to it – especially when it’s something as dainty as a orange that has been “Supremed”. Many people think that this technique is “segmenting” an orange but in truth, if you want to do that, all you have to do is peel the orange and separate all the pieces. If you want the garnish that gives you a jeweled orange to sit atop any salad or other dish, you must Supreme it. And it’s really easy to do. Here’s how:
- Start by cutting off both ends of the orange. You don’t want to take too much of the orange when you do this, just enough to show the flesh of the orange.
- Stand the orange up on one of its ends. Using a short paring knife, cut the peel off the orange just where the white membrane meets the pulp of the orange. Let the knife follow the curve of the fruit, slicing the peel away as you do.
- Now, if there is a tricky part to this technique (which there’s really not), it’s getting those wedges out perfectly. Remember that if you just cut away where the membrane is, you’ll end up with those somewhat uglier segments that haven’t been Supremed, they’ve simply been cut out of the orange. To get the Supreme wedges, cut each wedge just inside of those membranes. You’ll need to cut them out on a slight angle, and then repeat with the opposite side before continuing on with the rest of the orange.
That’s really all there is to it! Just three simple steps to take an orange from average to Supreme. Now, how are you going to use it now that you’ve got it? In any way you choose!