So this mornings faux pas was an instantly learnt lesson…
My morning routine is evolving (isn’t it always), and lately I’ve been going to bed later, which is unfortuantely leading to a higher than average “SNOOZE” ratio!
I rolled out of bed, narrowly missed hitting the floor, shuffled to the bathroom, smeared on the clay masque I’ve started using in the mornings, and stumbled out to the kitchen. First order of the day, juice! Without taking too much notice I pulled items from my green ‘juicing bag’, tossed them in the nice wide chute, pushed down and watched the bright frothy nectar pour into my glass! (And people think juice is ‘time-consuming’). Mmm… Hello March!
I perched myself on the kitchen stool, brought the glass tinkering with a couple of ice-cubes up to my lips, breathed in the fresh smell of orange, and took a deep drink of… ORANGE OIL?!?!?! HOLY COW!!!
What is wrong with my juice?!? There’s no sweet scented apple, earthy fresh carrot… all there is, is orange. But bitter, sour, punch you in the face kinda orange!!!! I juiced the oranges with the skin on!!! And the result, was well, nauseating?!
By pure virtue of the other organic, delicious, and nutritious ingredients contained within this ‘could be cleaning solution’ I forcibly drank down the whole lot!! URGH!!!
Now there’s strong residual flavours in all kinds of foods, but this one really takes the cake! I’ve had fish oil repeat on me in the past, but even that wasn’t this bad!
If you’ve ever bitten into an orange you might understand what I mean. If not imagine holding a really fresh, round, juicy, sweet orange. The skin is smooth, yet tacky with oil, dimpled, this outer layer is thick and strong. Holding it to your nose you can already smell the taste!! You can’t wait to get the succulent, firm, drippy, yielding flesh into your mouth, have your teeth sink down, crushing the segments into a cascade of sweet juice, spilling over your lips and down your chin! MMM!!
But then you realise… no knife!! Oopsie!! No knife means you have to use your hands to get that skin off… So you dig in your nail to create a starting point for peeling, and as the fine edge punctures those volatile oils, piercing the flesh, that well-known, slightly-anticipated-yet-completely-unexpected, immediate, straight spray of orange oil shoots out from the fruit, right through the air and hits you in the eye! Or hits you in the face, or lands on your shirt leaving a pulp piece to dry while the oils seep and smear and set into the threads!
In any case that bitter, astringent, pungent, concentrated orange oil, multiply it by the oil in all of the skin as opposed to the small part you pierced, and times that by three oranges, and you’re getting close!!! Repeating orange oil!! Gross!
In a desperate attempt to feel better about this encroaching discomfort, nauseating taste, and citrus breath I decided to Google ‘orange oil benefits’ and see if maybe my mistake was really a secret health guru blessing in disguise!?!?
After skimming through articles covering orange oils anti-inflammatory, anti-spasmodic, anti-depressant, anti-septic, skin-toning, mood enhancing, carminitive, diuretic, insect repellant, stain removing, air freshening properties (and feeling nothing of those things!!!), I found one article explaining that whilst orange oil may smell as fresh as fruit it was a non-edible product and can cause digestive problems and stomach aches if directly consumed!!?! Hmmm…..
Thankfully my friend Lance had a more positive spin on things… Livestrong’s article How To Juice Oranges With Skin:
I did learn today that the albedo, pith, or white matter/ membrane under the peel and at the centre of the orange contains the majority, or highest amount of bioflavonoids and other anti-cancer agents. It has nearly the same amount of vitamin C as the flesh, and contains sources of pectin.
nikkifischer.com 