Oranges
A plate of orange slices
In the eastern Mediterranean eating fruit after a meal is a family ritual. One parent would slice the fruit and pass around slices to the children. To this day, I cannot grab a piece of fruit and bite into it alone. I have to slice the fruit, in the different styles of various adults from the past,and enjoy each slice.
Taking a bite from an apple seems so cruel to me. Slicing an apple or pear and savoring each slice has a certain ritualistic aspect. Like a ceremony of pleasure. If you don’t take a bite, you can offer others a share. Of course, if you have a bit of wine left over in your glass, dunk the slices in the wine and savor both. Peach slices in red wine from my father’s hand still linger in my mouth.
Eating your fruit has become an obligation imposed by nutritionists. Food manufacturers capitalize on the science of eating fruits by inventing ways to make us like fruit: juices, leathers, pulps. Taking us further away from the true nature of the fruit and into an isolated task that is an obligation for our well being, not a pleasure of savoring with those we love a slice of seasonal sweetness.
Eating meals with your family should include the ending of the fruit sharing. Cutting slices and offering them around the table. Listening to each other finish the stories of the day with a bit of sunshine and sweetness. Sometimes the fruit will be sour, but you will all taste that same sour, or sweet fruit together.
Grab a plate, grab a fruit and sit with your family, or friends.
