To prepare Fruit for the Table
Apples should be washed and wiped dry. Berries should be looked over very carefully, and, if dirty, washed by putting in a colander and allowing cold water to run gently over them, or place the colander in a bowl of cold water and raise up and down several times, then drain thoroughly and chill before serving.
Cherries should be looked over, and served with their stems on.
Bananas should be wiped and chilled.
Currants should be washed and drained, and served on the stem.
Figs, if the dried ones, should be washed, drained, and chilled.
Grape fruit should be cut in halves, the pulp loosened from the skin, and the pith cut out, then chilled; it may be served plain, or sugar and wine may be poured over it just before chilling. Serve one half grape fruit to each person.
Grapes should be washed if dirty, but the bloom is then lost; if picked on one’s own vines, it may not be necessary to wash them; but when bought in the market, it is better to wash and drain, and chill them.
Peaches and plums should be wiped with a soft cloth, and chilled before serving.
Quinces are never served raw.
Strawberries are often served with their hulls on around a mound of sugar; but if they are to be served with sugar and cream, of course they must be hulled and chilled.
Oranges may be chilled and served in the natural state; or prepared the same as grape fruit, and one half served to each person; or peeled and the sections almost, but not quite, separated; or the orange may be cut in the shape of a basket, the pulp removed, the membrane cut off, and the basket refilled with the pulp, which may be sweetened or not.
Pineapples may be served in various ways; perhaps the most popular way is to cut off a slice from the top of the pineapple, then scoop out the center with a fork, and return pulp to pineapple, put on cover, chill, and serve.
Pineapples may be cut in slices, the outer skin be removed, and the tough pith taken out, then serve one or two slices to each person.
If the pineapples are not fully ripe, it is better to remove the skin, pull the pulp in pieces with a fork, then cover with sugar, and chill over night.
Pears should be carefully wiped and chilled before serving.
Melons should be thoroughly chilled. Cantaloupes should be cut in halves, have the seeds removed, and be served one half to a person. Watermelons should be cut in halves, then each half cut in pie-shaped pieces; serve one piece to a person.
Nuts are ordinarily served only at dinner. Hard-shelled nuts should be cracked, served in the shell, or without the shell.
Almonds are cracked, and a portion of the shell discarded, or they may be blanched and salted, and served with the bonbons.
Pecans, filberts, peanuts and walnuts are treated in the same way as almonds.
Castañas or Brazilian nuts are cracked and served in the shell.