Grapefruit

Midwinter is prime citrus season for both the San Joaquin Valley and Southern California districts, with an abundance of excellent mandarins, oranges, tangelos and lemons. The one laggard is conventional grapefruit, which, as grown in these two areas will be too sour for most palates for a couple of months or more. By compensation, we have three fine locally adapted grapefruit-like hybrids, Oroblanco, Melogold and Cocktail "grapefruit," which are at their peak right now. The Oroblanco is the most widely grown and flavorful of the three.

It's the year of the dragon, and if Klaus Puck has his way, you'll be breathing fire in no time. Puck, the brother of chef Wolfgang Puck, oversees the wine and spirits program at WP24 Restaurant & Lounge by Wolfgang Puck at the Ritz-Carlton in downtown Los Angeles. In this drink, tequila is mellowed by sweet Cointreau and cut with tart grapefruit and lime juice. The heat comes courtesy of a couple of jalapeño slices. Serve this with a spring roll for the perfect pre-dinner treat. -- Dragon's Fire cocktail by Klaus Puck 2 slices of jalapeño 11/2 ounces Herradura añejo 3/4 ounce Cointreau 1/2 ounce grapefruit juice 1/2 ounce lime juice 1/2 ounce simple syrup Muddle the jalapeño in a martini mixing glass, add the other ingredients and shake; salt the rim of a martini glass and strain the mixture into it. Garnish with a Thai basil leaf.

At the farthest fringe of the Inland Empire, southeast of the hardscrabble town of Hemet, lies the world center of summer grapefruit, one of the least known and most fascinating of California's agricultural niches. The major commercial grapefruit districts, Florida, Texas and California's Coachella low desert, harvest from November to April, but Hemet's peculiar high desert microclimate — hot enough in the day to color and sweeten the fruit but cool enough at night to delay maturity — provides a rare source of high-quality grapefruit in late spring and summer.

Total time: 1 hour, 10 minutes, plus chilling time Servings: 8 1 unbaked (9-inch) tart shell 2 whole eggs 2 egg yolks 1/4 teaspoon salt 1/2 cup sugar 1/2 cup grapefruit juice (from 2 large grapefruit) 1 teaspoon grated grapefruit zest (from 1 large grapefruit) 1 teaspoon Campari 6 tablespoons cold butter, cut into pieces 1/4 cup chopped pistachios 1. Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Prick the bottom of the tart shell lightly with a fork, line it with parchment or aluminum foil and fill it with pie weights (you can use dried beans and save them to use as weights the next time you bake)

If you are a true grapefruit fancier, you'll certainly want to become acquainted with the 'Oroblanco,' a marvelous fruit that is a cross between a grapefruit and a pummelo and contains not a shudder of bitterness. The Oroblanco is almost as sweet as a navel orange, although it has the characteristic flavor of the grapefruit. This grapefruit hybrid was developed in the early '60s by geneticist Robert Soost at UC Riverside.

The Torrance farmers market has always ranked as one of the top three in the Southland, after Santa Monica Wednesday and Hollywood Sunday, and is particularly strong in winter, with an abundance of citrus and exotic fruits and vegetables. Mary Lou Weiss, the manager, is a veteran professional, and although some of the market's stands do sell commercial-grade produce, many are genuine small family farms, well worth searching out. One of the finest and most honorable growers is Carol Harriett of Thys Ranch, from Fallbrook, who is bringing bright yellow Cocktail grapefruit with very sweet, tender, juicy flesh.

Italy's three-day scare over the suspected injection of poison into grapefruit imported from Israel ended today with scientists saying the bright blue liquid found in the fruit was a harmless substance used in making dyes.

Hailstones, some of them as big as grapefruits, killed more than 40 people and injured 400 in Bangladesh overnight, officials said today. The hailstorms flattened hundreds of houses, damaged crops, disrupted power supplies and uprooted trees, they said. Some of the hailstones weighed more than two pounds.

The firm that markets Grapefruit 45 says it is in a "Catch-22" position because federal trade laws require the company to respond within 30 days to orders from consumers for its products at the same time that, for three weeks now, postal authorities have been seizing the mail containing those orders. The orders, averaging about $90,000 per day, are sitting unopened in the U.S. Post Office in Carlsbad. Jay M. Kholos, president of World Communications Inc.

Hanging around on trees all about California: grapefruits -- heavy with juice, tartly sweet, beguilingly perfumed. Round and yellow as happy faces or suns, they seem to ripen just as the general populace sinks into its annual round of post-holiday dietary self-chastisement. Coincidence? Perhaps. But we say run with it. Look beyond the obvious salvo of half a grapefruit for breakfast attacked with a jagged spoon and you'll find a marvelous fruit for peeling and eating out of hand.

Midwinter is prime citrus season for both the San Joaquin Valley and Southern California districts, with an abundance of excellent mandarins, oranges, tangelos and lemons. The one laggard is conventional grapefruit, which, as grown in these two areas will be too sour for most palates for a couple of months or more. By compensation, we have three fine locally adapted grapefruit-like hybrids, Oroblanco, Melogold and Cocktail "grapefruit," which are at their peak right now. The Oroblanco is the most widely grown and flavorful of the three.

At the farthest fringe of the Inland Empire, southeast of the hardscrabble town of Hemet, lies the world center of summer grapefruit, one of the least known and most fascinating of California's agricultural niches. The major commercial grapefruit districts, Florida, Texas and California's Coachella low desert, harvest from November to April, but Hemet's peculiar high desert microclimate — hot enough in the day to color and sweeten the fruit but cool enough at night to delay maturity — provides a rare source of high-quality grapefruit in late spring and summer.

They're bright. They're bold. They're eye-catching. California orange crate labels are viewed as quaint kitchen decor today, but there was a time when the colorful logos were cutting-edge innovations in national marketing. It wasn't long after the completion of the first transcontinental railroad in 1869 that California's citrus economy exploded, thanks to a mild climate and easy access to water. From 1880 to 1893, California citrus acreage grew from a few thousand acres to more than 40,000 — with 90% of it in Southern California, according to Tom Spellman, president of the Citrus Label Society.

I take felodipine for high blood pressure. I know I can't take it with grapefruit juice. I recently read that orange and apple juice also may affect medications. Is there a fruit juice I could use for taking my felodipine? How about pineapple juice? It's getting so you just don't know what is safe to eat or drink. Drug-food interactions are incredibly complicated. Grapefruit juice increases blood levels of nearly 50 medications, including felodipine. Apple and orange juice have the opposite effect for certain drugs.

The Torrance farmers market has always ranked as one of the top three in the Southland, after Santa Monica Wednesday and Hollywood Sunday, and is particularly strong in winter, with an abundance of citrus and exotic fruits and vegetables. Mary Lou Weiss, the manager, is a veteran professional, and although some of the market's stands do sell commercial-grade produce, many are genuine small family farms, well worth searching out. One of the finest and most honorable growers is Carol Harriett of Thys Ranch, from Fallbrook, who is bringing bright yellow Cocktail grapefruit with very sweet, tender, juicy flesh.

  Total time: 15 minutes, plus steeping time for the vermouth Servings: 10 Note: From Philip Ward of Death + Co. Tea-infused sweet vermouth 1 (750 ml) bottle Martini & Rossi vermouth Heaping 1/4 cup loose-leaf cinnamon-spiced tea 1. Pour the vermouth into a pitcher. Add the tea and set aside for 1 1/2 hours, stirring occasionally. 2. Strain the infused vermouth using a fine-mesh strainer lined with cheesecloth and pour the vermouth back into the bottle.

  Total time: 15 minutes, plus steeping time for the vermouth Servings: 10 Note: From Philip Ward of Death + Co. Tea-infused sweet vermouth 1 (750 ml) bottle Martini & Rossi vermouth Heaping 1/4 cup loose-leaf cinnamon-spiced tea 1. Pour the vermouth into a pitcher. Add the tea and set aside for 1 1/2 hours, stirring occasionally. 2. Strain the infused vermouth using a fine-mesh strainer lined with cheesecloth and pour the vermouth back into the bottle.