The fancy way of cutting off all of the membranes around citrus segments is called supreming. Since I recently posted a recipe calling for supremes, I thought it might be helpful to update with a step by step guide through cutting supremes.

But first, let me beg you to use a really sharp knife for this (serrated blades don’t count) .  If you don’t have a really sharp knife, go get one sharpened. Without a sharp knife, this will be an exercise in frustration.

1. Cut off the top and bottom. It might take a few slices until you get cleanly into the fruit.

2. Set the fruit on the now flat bottom and cut the peel away, in strips. Once you have cut one piece away from the fruit, there will be a nice line that you can trace to get the rest of the peel off neatly.
3. Trim away all of the remaining pith.
4. Scrape the fruit and interior skin away from the peel. Reserve peel for another use, such as candied peels.*

5. Cut each segment on the left and right to separate the segment from the membrane. At the end you will have a pile of segments and something like a book made of citrus membranes.

6. Squeeze the center skins over your bowl of supremes to get any remaining juice out.

* I keep a bag of citrus peels in the freezer until I have enough to warrant making a batch of candied peels. Removing the fruit and membrane is very important for candying. If you do it right when you use the fruit, you’ll be all set to candy later.

Related posts: