Kiwi: To Peel or Not To Peel?
I have been eating kiwis as long as I can remember and have always peeled them. That's how my mom gave them to me when I was little and how I continued to do it ever since. The other day I was cutting up a lot of fruit to macerate in balsamic vinegar and top with creme fraiche and when I started to peel the fuzz off the kiwi, my husband looked at me like I was insane. I realized that I had never eaten the fuzz so I tried a bit and was not a fan so I will be peeling them for the rest of my life.
What do all of you do with kiwi? Any other fruits that other people think yo treat oddly?
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24 Comments:
I peel it, never heard of eating the skin.
pjracz10 at 3:46PM on 08/26/09
I'd heard the kiwi is one of the most nutritious fruits, especially if you eat the peel. If the fuzz bothers you, you can rub it off with a paper towel or the back of a knife or something. My sister tried it once. The texture of the skin is a bit off-putting, since the flesh is pretty soft. Try it once, but we've never tried it again.
engmcmuffin at 3:54PM on 08/26/09
sorry, i dont think that you're the one eating kiwis weirdly, its your husband....
anyhow, i like eat the core of the pineapple, which some people think is weird. i also sometimes peel grapes (well, i eat them by peeling the skin off first with my teeth and eating that, then the grapes). some people also think i'm strange for eating a tomato like an apple. i just bite into it.
korovka at 3:58PM on 08/26/09
My SO just the other day, washed a kiwi, scrubbed it on a clean towel and bit into like an apple. I looked at him like WTF? He's like, "You don't eat them this way?" I say, "I've never met someone who eats them like that." We agreed to disagree. I scoop out my kiwi with a spoon.
kmgagne at 4:04PM on 08/26/09
korovka: I eat toms the same way and sometimes even a sweet onion that way.
elisaday at 4:05PM on 08/26/09
I eat the skins. More nutrients and fiber that way. If it's sliced up, then the skin doesn't really bother me. If I was eating it like an apple and the skin was the first part on my tongue, then I think I wouldn't like having the skin on.
Whenever I serve a kiwi to other people, I take the skin off. I'm pretty sure it's more common to remove it than eat it.
blackolive at 4:24PM on 08/26/09
I had never heard of this concept of taking the skins off the kiwi until I was around 18-20 or so, it reminds me of people who take the outsides off grapes... it kinda bugs me.
I just wash, and eat.
AyeEat at 5:01PM on 08/26/09
I eat a Kiwi fruit like one would eat an apple, pear, etc.--just bite into it. I like that the fuzzy-textured skin is sorta unusual.
Lorenzo at 6:09PM on 08/26/09
I cant even stand the fuzz on a peach, let alone that funky shag on a kiwi.
Beanalicious1 at 6:18PM on 08/26/09
i eat it as a fruit alone or in acid fruit salads... I make juice from it - great help if you're constipated... I also add it as a topping to mango sherbet ... yum!!!
MadelynRodriguez at 6:20PM on 08/26/09
That skin of a kiwi is completely inedible. It's not like an apple whose skin you can take or leave - it's not meant for consumption. Come to think of it, I don't think there's any redeeming purpose for the skin at all!
therealchiffonade at 6:28PM on 08/26/09
A coworker and I just had this conversation the other day. She eats them with a peel. I've always eaten them without. I really love using a spoon to peel them. It's so fun!
gingercookiewithlime at 6:43PM on 08/26/09
I know the peel/skin of fruit is often nutrient and fiber-rich, but I have issues with a lot of peels, kiwi being one of them. When I'm at home, I often peel peaches and apples, but I'll eat the skin in other settings. Kiwi, however, needs to be without fur for me.
Nick Kindelsperger at 6:51PM on 08/26/09
Eat the skin of a kiwi fruit. Huh. It has really never even occured to me that one *could* eat that. Now I'm wondering if I should be eating the peels of bananas too.
AliceBlue at 7:14PM on 08/26/09
OMG - my roommate in university mentioned that she ate her kiwis with peel. So I tried it - in the middle of the library. I took a big bite, gagged repeatedly, and ran to the nearest garbage can to spit it out. A huge scene. It felt like I was biting into someone's arm, like a cannibal.
Needless to say, it's skins off for me.
PeanutButter at 8:21PM on 08/26/09
I eat the skins. It's a matter of laziness mainly, since peeling them takes effort, and even cutting them in half and eating with a spoon requires two utensils. The taste/texture doesn't bother me enough to not eat it, in fact I hardly even notice it.
cycorider at 9:11PM on 08/26/09
I have a friend who eats the peels. Loves them.
Me- I prefer to peel them. Appearance/texture.
CJ McD at 9:19PM on 08/26/09
blech - I've never heard of eating the skin! It just looks like it would taste nasty!
caramel at 11:37PM on 08/26/09
If you don't peel them, does it mean you eat the feathers and all? Ick.
But seriously, I peel peaches because I don't like the fuzz. Which is why I prefer nectarines.
dbcurrie at 1:17AM on 08/27/09
I have the same argument with my boyfriend! I grew up scooping kiwi out from its peel but my boyfriend says he always ate it! I think it's nasty and not supposed to be eaten but apparently not everyone agrees...
Chew on That at 3:38PM on 08/27/09
I eat and enjoy the peel.
@therealchiffonade-- where did you hear that the skin is inedible? I tried to find a source for that, but all I could find was the Wikipedia entry (FWIW) that says, "while the skin of kiwifruit is often removed before serving, it is completely edible."
It further says, "The kiwifruit skin is edible and contains high amounts of fiber. In a fully matured kiwifruit one study showed that this as much as tripled the fiber content of the fruit. In addition, as many of the vitamins are stored immediately under the skin, leaving the skin intact greatly increases the vitamin c consumed by eating a single piece of kiwifruit when compared to eating it peeled. As with all fruit, it is recommended that if eating the skin, the fruit be washed prior to consumption."
MarvinDog at 4:00PM on 08/27/09
I eat the skin and like it just fine. It's how I was introduced to it and I never thought not to eat it.
alosha7777 at 5:56PM on 08/27/09
I love to eat them this way: Cut the unpeeled kiwi in half crosswise, between poles. Now, holding one half in the palm of your hand for leverage, scoop out the fruit with a spoon, scraping it cleanly around as you go. Neat, tidy, and then you simply drop the emptied peel (now looks like half an eggshell) into your compost.
(For the record, I never eat the peel. Seems like a no-brainer.)
moibec at 7:05PM on 08/27/09
I slice in half lengthwise and eat with a spoon.
nightowl at 7:43PM on 08/27/09