Pit

To pit means to remove the single hard seed, called the pit, from a fruit. In the UK it is called the stone, and recipes say "stoned" or "destoned". Cherries, olives, plums, peaches, apricots, mangoes, dates and avocados all have one.

How to do it

Cherries and olives: use a cherry pitter, which pushes the pit out through the fruit. Without one, put the fruit on the mouth of a narrow bottle and push the pit through with a chopstick or a sturdy straw. For olives, you can also press each one with the flat of a knife until it splits, then pull out the pit.

Peaches, plums and apricots:

1. Cut around the fruit along its seam, down to the pit, all the way round.
2. Hold one half in each hand and twist in opposite directions.
3. Lift the pit out of the half that holds it. Use a paring knife if it clings.

Avocados:

1. Cut around the avocado lengthwise, down to the pit, and twist the halves apart.
2. Scoop the pit out with a spoon, or cut the half with the pit in quarters and peel the pit away.

Mangoes: the pit is flat and wide. Stand the mango on its end and cut down each side of the pit to take off two "cheeks".

Common mistakes

• Hitting an avocado pit with a knife while holding the fruit in your hand. The blade can slip into your palm. Keep the avocado on the board, or use a spoon.
• Trying to twist a peach whose flesh clings to the pit. Some peaches, called clingstone, will not come free. Cut the flesh off the pit in slices instead.
• Missing a pit. Count the fruit and the pits, especially when baking whole cherries into a clafoutis or pie.
• Pitting cherries in a white shirt. The juice stains.

In recipes

"Pitted" or "stoned" means the pit is out. Some recipes ask for unpitted cherries for flavor and warn guests. Removing a central core with many seeds, as in apples, is called coring, and removing loose seeds from peppers is called seeding.