When I look back in time and think of what types of citruses have been used in cocktails, I realized that you can probably count them all on one hand…lime, lemon, orange and grapefruit. But then you look at all the different cuisines all around the world, each calling for different types of citrus…that got me wondering “What are the original citruses?”
Pomelo, also known by several other names (pummelo, pomelo, pamplemousse, jabong, batabi or jambura, zambura or shaddock) can be found all around the world. Pomelo belongs to the citrus maxima or citrus grandis family and is native to Southeast Asia.
Pomelo is very often mistaken for a grapefruit hybrid when in fact pomelo, together with citron, mandarin and papeda (yuzu style) are the four original citruses from which the rest of the citruses has been hybridized. Yes, lemons, oranges and limes are all hybrids.
Double strain into a chilled martini glass and garnish with a lime wedge. its sweet flesh and very thick pith. The fruit tastes sweeter than grapefruit and its peel is sometimes used to make marmalade or is candied or dipped in chocolate and eaten as a sweet snack.
Apart the edible fruit, the rest of the tree also serves many purposes, its leaves can be used for aromatic baths, essential oils can be extracted from its flowers and the heavy hard timber from pomelo trees can also be used to make tool-handles.
And of course, it can be used in cocktails. Here is a recipe of a drink I enjoy very much:
Cocktail Recipe-Pamplemouse
60 ml young cuban style of rum
10 ml fresh lime juice
45 ml fresh pomelo juice
10 ml honey syrup
10 mint leaves
1. Combine all ingredients in a shaker.
2. Add ice and shake about 20 times.
3. Double strain into a chilled martini glass and garnish with a lime wedge.
