Advertisement
Published 2002
To cut an orange into membraneless and pithless wedges—the French call this couper à vif-— slice both ends off the orange with a sharp paring knife, deep enough so you see the orange flesh. Set the orange on one end and carve off the peel, working from the top down. Follow the contours of the orange so you leave as little flesh attached to the peel as possible. When you’ve removed all the peel and, with it, the white pith, hold the orange in one hand over a bowl and slice along both sides of each of the thin membranes separating the wedges. Slice along the membranes only to the center of the orange, coaxing the wedges into the bowl as you go. When all the wedges—now called “supremes”—are in the bowl, squeeze the juice out of what’s left of the orange, over the wedges.