Published July 1, 2007.
Could an old bartending trick be the simple answer to a better fruit salad?
Most fruit salads betray neither rhyme nor reason regarding the fruit selection or assembly, and the customary heavy sprinkling of sugar seems designed to mask defects in the fruit.
With summer fruit at its peak, we wanted to rewrite the rules of fruit salad to bring out the best fruit flavor.
We cut the fruit into small, uniform pieces, so the different flavors and texture could come through in each mouthful. To keep each fruit distinct, we also limited the number to three per salad. We found it hard to judge the proper amount of sugar when it was added directly to the salad, so we macerated each fruit in just the amount needed to release the fruits' natural juices; we also balanced the sweetness with fresh lime juice. But first, we mashed the sugar with herbs and zests (in bartending circles, this process is called "muddling") to ensure even flavor distribution.
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