Preserved Lemons

June 30, 2005

I love lemons. When I was a child there were two desserts my mother made that I was absolutely excited about. One was lemon meringue pie and the other was a puffy lemon souffle with an exquisite lemony sauce.

We were living on an air force base at the time and one of my favourite outings was to wheel my doll's pram up the road to the green lawns by the guard gates. There were several lemon trees growing there and I would disappear behind the grove with the pram, whip out the doll and her mattress and blankets, fill the bottom of the pram with lemons, replace my doll and resume my journey home, hoping I would inspire Mum to bake a lemon pudding.

Lemons also made a good addition to a savoury meal. I've noticed lots of mesh bags of nice evenly shaped lemons on the green grocery shelves recently and decided it was time to preserve some lemons for some Moroccan stews over the chilly months.

Preserved lemons are easy to prepare and are ready in a month or two. It is preferable to use thin-skinned lemons. They tend to have more juice. I've just opened a jar of lemons I put down six weeks ago and they are giving off an intense lemony aroma. I've read they can be used in a lemon martini and that sounds rather good to me. Some people like to add other flavourings when preserving lemons - cinnamon sticks, dried chillies, bay leaves. I prefer to keep them plain and add the seasoning to the casseroles or tagines that I use the lemons in.

Preserved lemons

12 thin-skinned lemons
coarse salt
water
vegetable oil (optional)

Wash the lemons and then soak them in water for three days, replacing the water each day.

Removing the little stalk knob from the end of the lemon then quarter the lemons from the top to within about 1.5cm of the bottom.

Sprinkle three or four tablespoons of salt into the bottom of a preserving jar or any glass jar with a snug-fitting not metallic lid. Open out each lemon and spoons in a couple of tablespoons of salt. Reshape and place in the jar. Continue till all the fruit has been done, pressing the lemons down as you go. Cover the lemons with water. If you wish you can pour a little oil in over the top.

Place in a cool dark place for four to six weeks before using. To use, rinse the lemons and discard the pulp. Use the peel and pith. I've give you a recipe for a Moroccan dish using preserved lemons in a future column.

You may find a thin white skin on the surface of the water or on the lemons. This is normal. Skim it off and discard it.